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HIGHWAY  LEGISLATION 

IN  MARYLAND       ___ 

AND  ITS  INFLUENCE  ON  THE 

ECONOMIC  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  STATE 


A  DISSERTATION 

PRESENTED   TO    THE    BOARD   OF   UNIVERSITY   STUDIES 

JOHNS  HOPKINS  UNIVERSITY  FOR  THE  DEGREE 

OF  DOCTOR   OF   PHILOSOPHY 


BY 

ST.  GEORGE  LEAKIN  SIOUSSAT 

t  r 

Some  time  Scholar  in  History  at  Johns  Hopkins  University 


BALTIMORE,  MD. 
1899 


BALTIMORE,  MD.,  U.  S.  A. 


Reprinted  from 

Report  of  Maryland  Geological  Survey 
Volume  III,  1899,  pp.  109-186 


I  57897 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

HIGHWAY  LEGISLATION  IN   MARYLAND,  AND  ITS  INFLUENCE  ON  THE 
ECONOMIC    DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  STATE.     BY  ST.  GEORGE 

LEAKIN  SIOUSSAT 107 

THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  HIGHWAYS  IN  MARYLAND 109 

Transportation  by  Water 109 

Early  Ferries 110 

Contemporary  Highway  Legislation Ill 

The  First  Road  Law  of  Maryland 112 

Hardships  of  Travel 113 

The  County  Courts  and  the  Roads 114 

St.  Mary's  and  Calvert  County  Records 115 

Charles  County  Records 115 

Baltimore  County  Records   116 

The  Herrmans  and  the  Roads  of  Cecil  County 117 

An  Early  Mail-Route 118 

The  Law  of  1704  and  its  Supplements 119 

The  Roads  »  Ascertained  " .' 122 

Charles  County 122 

Cecil  County 123 

Anne  Arundel  County 123 

Early  »  Rolling  Roads  " 123 

Exemption  from  Highway  Service   124 

COMMERCIAL  GROWTH  AND  THE  "  WESTERN  MOVEMENT  "  125 

Maryland  Towned  and  "  Untowned  " 125 

The  Westward  Movement 126 

The  Monocasy  [Monocacy]  Road 127 

Travel  North  and  South 128 

The  Development  of  Northern  Maryland 131 

Packhorse  vs.  Wagon 132 

The  French  and  Indian  War 133 

Exploration  of  the  Ohio  Country 133 

"  Braddock's  Road  " 134 

Braddock's  Expedition 135 

Road  from  Fort  Frederick  to  Fort  Cumberland 137 

INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENT  AND  LATER  HIGHWAY  LEGISLATION 138 

Canal  Schemes 139 

Highway  Legislation 140 

Laws  Regarding  Single  Roads 140 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Legislation  for  Groups  of  Roads 143 

Legislation  for  Separate  Counties 146 

Attempts  at  Uniformity 148 

Reaction  towards  Separate  Legislation  150 

General  Legislation 153 

Extension  of  the  Powers  of  the  County  Courts 158 

Penal  Legislation  and  the  Roads 154 

Private  Roads 155 

Method  of  Travel  at  the  End  of  the  Eighteenth  Century 156 

Stage-Lines  and  Stages 157 

The  Pains  and  Pleasures  of  Travel 159 

The  Development  of  Turnpikes  in  Maryland 162 

Baltimore  County  Turnpikes 163 

Incorporation  of  Private  Turnpike  Companies 166 

The  Turnpikes  of  1804-5 166 

Gallatin's  Report  on  Turnpikes 170 

The  Banks  and  the  Turnpike  to  Cumberland 171 

Increase  of  Turnpike  Companies 172 

Governor  Goldsborough's  Report 172 

Further  Bank  Aid 174 

The  Turnpikes  and  Baltimore  City 175 

The  Rise  of  the  Canal  and  Railroad  177 

Subsequent  Turnpike  Legislation 178 

Maryland's  Relation  to  the  National  Road 178 

Washington  and  the  Ohio  Country 178 

The  Northwest  Territory 180 

Alexander  Hamilton  and  the  National  Improvement  of  Highways 180 

Albert  Gallatin  and  the  Inception  of  the  National  Road 181 

The  Maryland  Route  Selected 183 

Consent  of  the  States  and  Federal  Appropriations 184 

National  Road  under  State  Control    .                                                                 .  185 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 


The  writer  in  presenting  this  study  of  the  highway  legislation  in 
Maryland  wishes  to  acknowledge  his  indebtedness  to  all  who  have 
aided  him  in  the  collection  and  presentation  of  the  facts  in  this  paper. 
Especial  aid  has  been  received  from  the  instructors  in  the  Historical 
Department  of  the  Johns  Hopkins  University  and  from  the  officers 
of  the  Maryland  Geological  Survey  who  have,  offered  numerous  sug- 
gestions and  furnished  the  opportunity  for  prosecuting  the  work. 
The  writer  is  also  indebted  to  the  county  officers  who  have  given  him 
the  opportunity  to  examine  and  study  the  records  in  their  custody 
and  to  the  librarians  of  the  various  libraries  in  Baltimore,  Washington 
and  Annapolis  who  have  shown  him  many  courtesies.  To  all  of  these 
he  extends  his  hearty  thanks. 


HIGHWAY   LEGISLATION  IN  MARYLAND  AND  ITS 
INFLUENCE  ON  THE  ECONOMIC  DEVEL- 
OPMENT OF  THE  STATE 

BY 

ST.  GEORGE  LEAKIN  SIOUSSAT 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  HIGHWAYS  IN  MARYLAND. 

"  Rivers/'  said  the  philosopher  Pascal,  "  are  roads  that  move,  and 
carry  us  whither  we  wish  to  go."  "  Yes,"  was  the  comment  of 
another,  "  provided  we  wish  to  go1  whither  they  carry  us." 

A  comparison  of  Augustine  Herrman's  map  of  Maryland  with  one 
of  the  present  day  will  make  evident  the  applicability  of  Pascal's  say- 
ing, and  the  equal  applicability  of  its  subsequent  modification,  to  the 
history  of  the  development  of  highways  in  Maryland.  Nowadays, 
the  state  appears  dotted  from  border  to  border  with  cities,  towns,  and 
villages,  bound  together  by  a  network  of  roads,  great  and  small,  that 
are  the  channels  of  intercourse  of  an  advanced  and  prosperous  com- 
monwealth. The  Maryland  of  Herrman's  time  was  a  fringe  of  scat- 
tered settlements,  strung  along  the  bayside  and  along  the  banks  of  the 
navigable  rivers,  with  not  a  trace  of  connecting  highways. 

TRANSPORTATION  BY  WATER. 

The  main  highway  of  early  Maryland  was  the  Chesapeake,  which 
is,  says  a  chronicler  of  that  time,  "  a  bay  in  most  respects  scarcely  to 
be  outdone  by  the  universe,  having  so  many  large  and  spacious  rivers 
branching  and  running  on  both  sides  ....  and  each  of  these  rivers 
richly  supplied,  and  divided  into  sundry  smaller  rivers,  spreading 
themselves  out  to  innumerable  creeks  and  coves,  admirably  carved 
and  contrived  by  the  omnipotent  hand  of  our  wise  Creator,  for  the 
advantage  and  conveniency  of  its  inhabitants,  so  that  I  have  oft,  with 


110  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    JN    MARYLAND 

no  small  admiration,  compared  the  many  rivers,  creeks  and  rivulets 
-of  water  to  veins  in  human  bodies." 

With  ready  appreciation  of  the  "  advantage  and  conveniency  "  of 
these  "  roads  that  move/7  the  early  Marylanders  traveled  from  land- 
ing to  landing  and  from  shore  to  shore  in  sloops  and  pinnaces,  imi- 
tating the  customs  of  the  native  Indians,  "  whose  buildings  and  habi- 
tations," Captain  John  Smith  had  noted,  were  "  for  the  most  part  by 
the  rivers,  or  not  far  from  some  fresh  spring." 

Instead  of  mileage,  compensation  for  boat-hire  was  allowed  to  the 
•delegates  to  the  Assembly  from  Kent  and  Anne  Arundel.3  Indeed, 
travel  to  any  considerable  distance  seems  to  have  been  exclusively  by 
water;  and  for  the  first  few  years  after  the  settlement  at  St.  Mary's 
the  word  "  road "  must  have  had  but  limited  significance  in  the 
•colonial  vocabulary.4 

The  earliest  "  roads  "  were  mere  paths  from  plantations  to  river 
landings,  or  from  the  settlements  scattered  along  the  rivers  adjacent 
to  the  little  capital  at  St.  Mary's.  When  the  colonies  pushed  further 
inland,  and  the  streams  no  longer  carried  them  whither  they  wished  to 
go,  more  extensive  highways  became  necessaiy.  As  yet,  however, 
the  construction  and  repair  of  roads  was  a  matter  of  private  concern; 
•over  a  quarter  of  a  century  elapsed  between  the  settlement  at  St. 
Mary's  and  the  passage  of  the  first  road-law  of  the  colony. 

EARLY  FERRIES. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  influence  of  the  topography  of  the  country 
upon  the  progress  of  the  colony  is  evidenced  by  the  regulations  con- 

1  Rev.  Francis  Makemy.     A  Plain  and  Friendly  Persuasive.     London,  1705, 
p.  5.     (See  Fiske's  Old  Va.,  vol.  ii,  p.  206.) 

2  Pinkerton's  Voyages,  vol.  xiii,  p.  35. 

3  Maryland  Archives,  vol.  i,  Assembly  Proceedings,  pp.  143  and  284. 

4  What  is  probably  the  earliest  mention  of  a  road  in  Maryland  bears  date 
March,    1643,   when   Father   Philip    Fisher,   one   of   the   Jesuit   Missionaries, 
writes  to  his  Provincial,  or  Superior,  as  follows:     "A  road  by  land  through 
the  forest  has  just  been  opened  from  Maryland  to  Virginia.     This  will  make 
it  but  a  two  days'  journey,  and  both  countries  can  be  united  in  one  mis- 
sion."    [Neill,  Maryland   in  the  Beginning,  p.  49.]     This  is,  of  course,  des- 
cribed too  indefinitely  to  be  identified  or   located  at  the  present  day,  but 
the  reference  is  interesting  as  showing  the  early  intercourse   between  the 
sister  colonies. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  111 

cerning  ferries.  When  a  line  of  communication  crossed  a  river  or 
stream  a  ferry  was  often  necessary  and  legislation  upon  this  subject 
preceded  that  concerning  highways  or  bridges.  As  early  as  the  ses- 
sion of  the  Assembly  that  met  at  St.  Mary's  in  1637-8,  a  number  of 
absentees  were  excused  from  the  fine  for  non-attendance  "  for  want  of 
passage  over  St.  George's  [St.  Mary's]  Kiver,"  a  want  that  was  sup- 
plied by  the  establishment  of  a  ferry  at  the  next  Assembly.1  As  the 
settlements  spread,  other  ferries  were  established;  and  in  1658  a  gen- 
eral law  was  passed  requiring  each  county  to  maintain  at  least  one 
ferry.2 

CONTEMPORARY  HIGHWAY  LEGISLATION. 

When  the  colonial  settlements  had  expanded  to  such  a  degree  that 
management  of  the  highways  could  no  longer  be  left  in  private  hands 
there  were  two  sources,  at  least,  upon  which  the  lawmakers  might 
draw  for  effective  road-legislation.  These  were  the  law  of  the  neigh- 
boring colony  of  Virginia  and  the  law  of  England. 

The  first  road-law  of  Virginia  left  the  regulation  of  highways  to 
the  discretion  of  the  Governor  and  Council,  or  the  Commissioners  of 
the  Monthly  Courts,  or  the  parishioners  of  each  parish.3  This  was 
supplemented  twenty-five  years  later  by  an  act  giving  the  jurisdiction 
over  the  roads  to  the  county  courts,  with  the  provision  that  "  the 
course  used  in  England  "  should  be  followed.4  The  English  law  was 
itself  at  this  time  in  a  primitive  state.  In  feudal  times  care  of  the 
roads  was  included  in  the  tenant's  trinoda  necessitous,  .or  three-fold 
service:  the  duty  of  making  an  expedition  against  the  enemy;  the 
construction  of  fortifications;  the  repair  of  bridges  (and  roads).  By 
the  growth  of  custom  the  care  of  the  highways  devolved  upon  the 
respective  parishes,  while  the  repair  of  bridges  was  referred  to  the 
county  at  large.  In  early  times  it  was  not  incumbent  on  any  par- 
ticular officer  to  call  the  parish  together  and  set  upon  them  this  work; 
therefore,  later  surveyors  of  the  highways  for  each  parish  were  ordered 
to  be  chosen  by  the  constable  and  church  wardens  of  that  parish.0 

1  Maryland  Archives,  Assembly  Proceedings,  vol.  i,  p.  78. 

2  Maryland  Archives,  Assembly  Proceedings,  vol.  i,  pp.  375-6. 
3Hening's  Statutes,  vol.  i,  p.  199   (1632). 

4ITening's  Statutes,  vol.  i,  p.  436  (1657-8). 
:>  Blackstone's  Commentaries,  p.  358. 


112  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    ITS    MARYLAND 

THE    FIRST    ROAD-LAW    OF    MARYLAND. 

The  first  road-law  of  Maryland  was  passed  in  1666;  it  was  entitled 
"  An  act  for  making  high  wayes  &  making  the  heads  of  Rivers, 
Creekes,  Branches  and  Swamps  passable  for  horse  and  foote."  This 
act  ordered  that  the  commissioners  of  each  county  should  "  upon  the 
20th  day  of  October  next  ensuing  meete  together  in  their  Eespective 
County es  to  consult  of  what  high  wayes  are  fitt  to  be  made."  They 
were  also  to  appoint  overseers  of  the  roads  and  to  levy  tobacco  or 
labor  to  be  assessed  equally  upon  the  taxables  of  each  county.  Fines 
were  provided  for  the  non-performance  of  these  duties  either  by  the 
overseers  or  by  the  laborers  whom  they  summoned. 

The  act  of  1666  continued  in  force,  with  but  slight  modifications, 
till  1696.  However,  the  "  highwaies  or  necessary  Paths  "  for  which 
it  made  provision  were  little  more  than  tracks  through  the  forest;  and 
the  enactors  had  in  view  the  direction  of  travelers  rather  than  the 
construction  of  roads.  Transportation  by  wagons  was  as  yet  un- 
known. Thus  the  road-overseer  had  little  to  do  but  cut  away  the 
underbrush,  fell  obstructing  trees,  and  drain  the  worst  of  the  marshes 
so  that  the  horse  or  mule  laden  with  panniers  full  of  tobacco  would 
not  stick  fast  in  the  low  and  swampy  ground. 

A  local  road-act  "  for  amending  the  wayes  out  of  Charles  County 
into  the  City  of  St.  Mary's/7  passed  eight  years  after  the  general  law 
of  1666,  testifies  to  the  primitive  life  the  colonists  then  were  lead- 
ing.2 The  passage  over  the  head  of  "  "Wiccocomico  River "  had 
become  hardly  passable  since  the  building  of  the  mill  there,  and  the 
overflowing  of  the  stream.  The  way  was  therefore  dangerous  for 
passengers  and  its  condition  even  imperiled  the  security  of  the  Prov- 
ince against  an  insurrection  of  the  Indians  "  who  live  in  great  Num- 
bers in  that  Country."  Charles  and  St.  Mary's  counties  were  equally 
assessed  for  the  construction  of  a  highway  "  passable  for  horse  and 
foote  over  such  place  of  Zachiah  Swampe  within  Two  miles  of  the 
said  Mill  upward  as  shall  seme  most  convenient "  to  their  Justices. 
The  road  thus  provided  for  became  one  of  the  most  important  in 

1  Maryland  Archives,  vol.  ii.     Assembly  Proceedings,  p.  134. 

2  Maryland  Archives,  vol.  ii.   'Assembly  Proceedings,  p.  408   (1674). 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  113 

southern  Maryland;  it  is  probably  to  be  identified  with  the  present 
road  from  Leonardtown  through  Allen's  Fresh  and  Chaptico  to  Port 
Tobacco. 

HARDSHIPS  OF  TRAVEL. 

Concerning  the  actual  state  of  the  highways  during  this  period  but 
little  information  is  to  be  found.  Enough  remains,  however,  to  con- 
vince one  of  the  hardships  of  traveling  in  these  early  times.  Some 
idea  of  the  difficulties  due  to  the  lack  of  roads  may  be  gathered  from 
the  journal  of  a  voyage  made  by  Augustine  Herrman,  the  author  of 
an  important  map  of  Maryland.  In  1659,  Peter  Stuyvesant,  the 
Director-General  of  the  New  Netherlands,  sent  Herrman  and  Re- 
solved (or  Roosevelt)  Waldron  as  Commissioners  to  Governor  Fendall 
of  Maryland  to  confer  concerning  an  alleged  attack  upon  Dutch  pos- 
sessions by  Colonel  Utie  of  Maryland.  Herrman  and  Waldron  left 
New  Amstel,  now  Newcastle,  in  Delaware  on  September  30,  and 
walked  through  the  woods,  part  of  the  way  without  a  path,  to  the 
river  Elk.  Here  they  embarked  in  a  boat  procured  from  the  Indians, 
and,  after  rowing  nearly  alt 'night,  arrived  on  October  2  near  Sas- 
safras. Thence  they  rowed  to  Kent  Island,  where  they  abandoned 
their  first  boat,  which  now  leaked  wretchedly,  and  secured  another 
from  a  Captain  Wike  or  Wickes,  one  of  the  magistrates  of  the  island. 
After  a  fine  run  to  Billingsly  Plantation,  "  at  the  cleft "  or  cliffs 
[of  Patuxent],  on  October  6  they  arrived  at  Colonel  Coortsey's  house 
upon  the  Patuxent,  and  on  the  following  day  they  went  nine  miles 
by  land  to  Secretary  P.  Calvert's.1 

Even  the  establishment  of  a  general  road-law  seems  to  have  given 
little  or  no  relief.  Six  years  after  the  passage  of  the  act  of  1666,  the 
celebrated  Quaker,  George  Fox,  describes  his  progress  from  the  East- 
ern Shore  of  Maryland  to  the  North  as  "  a  tedious  journey  through 
the  woods  and  wilderness,  over  bogs  and  great  rivers."  "  We  took 
horse,"  he  writes,  "  at  the  head  of  Tredaven  Creek,  and  traveled 
through  the  woods,  till  we  came  a  little  above  the  head  of  Miles  River, 
by  which  we  passed,  and  rode  to  the  head  of  Wye  River;  and  so  to  the 
head  of  Chester  River;  where  making  a  fire,  we  took  up  our  lodgings 

1  Hazard.     Annals  of  Pennsylvania,  pp.  287,  290   (Philadelphia,  1850). 


HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

in  the  woods.  ISText  morning  we  traveled  through  the  woods  till  we 
came  to  Saxifrax  River,  which  we  went  over  in  Canoes  (or  Indian 
boats,)  causing  our  horses  to  swim  by.  Then  we  rode  to  Bohemia 
River:  where  in  like  manner  swimming  our  horses,  we  ourselves  went 
over  in  Canoes.  We  rested  a  little  while  at  a  plantation  by  the  way, 
but  not  long,  for  we  had  thirty  miles  to  ride  that  afternoon,  if  we 
would  reach  a  town;  which  we  were  desirous  to  do,  and  therefore  rode 
hard  for  it.  ...  The  town  we  went  to  was  a  Dutch  town,  called  New- 
castle." l 

The  slowness  with  which  changes  in  the  methods  of  transportation 
were  brought  about  may  be  illustrated  from  the  fate  of  a  petition 
made  by  some  of  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Mary's  county  to  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Province,  upon  the  occasion  of  the  removal  of  the 
capital  from  St.  Mary's  City  to  Annapolis.  The  fifteenth  article  of 
this  petition  set  forth  that  "  the  petitioners  suspected  the  chief  dislike 
of  the  location  of  the  capital  at  St.  Mary's  to  be  on  account  of  the 
inconvenience  of  its  situation,  because  the  gentlemen,  the  members 
of  the  house,  have  been  forced  to  their  great  trouble  oftentimes  to 
travel  on  foot  from  Patuxent  to  St.  Mary's  and  so  back  again."  To 
remove  all  cause  for  such  an  objection,  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Mary's 
bound  themselves  to  procure  "  a  coach  or  caravan  or  both  to  go  in 
all  times  of  public  meetings  of  Assemblies  and  provincial  Courts,  etc. 
every  day  daily  between  St.  Mary's  and  Patuxent  River  and  at  all 
other  times  once  a  week."  This  magnanimous  proposal  did  not  meet 
with  the  respect  it  deserved,  for  the  House  rather  rudely  observed  that 
"  The  petitioners  offer  fair  as  they  have  done  formerly,  but  never  yet 
performed  any,  and  this  House  believes  that  the  Gen'l  Welfare  of  the 
Province  ought  to  take  place  of  that  Sugar  Plum  and  of  all  the 
Mayor's  Coaches,  who  as  yet  never  had  one!  " 

THE  COUNTY  COURTS  AND  THE  ROADS. 

To  the  County  Courts,  or  Commissioners — for  the  terms  were  inter- 
changeable— were  intrusted  the  construction  and  maintenance  of  the 

1  Journal  of  George  Fox,  vol.  ii,  pp.  108-9. 

2  Upper  House  Journal,  1694,  p.  768. 
8  Upper  House  Journal,  1694,  p.  772. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  115 

highways.  The  records  of  the  proceedings  of  these  bodies  contain 
a  great  deal  of  interesting  information  in  regard  to  the  development 
of  the  roads,  but  this  information  is  unfortunately  neither  so  complete 
nor  so  uniform  as  might  be  wished.  The  records  of  some~of~  the 
counties  have  been  destroyed  by  fire;  many  others,  though  extant,  are 
seriously  damaged  through  carelessness;  or  the  worthy  scribes  them- 
selves, in  many  cases,  have  taken  but  small  pains  to  detail  their  pro- 
ceedings upon  road-matters.  But  the  most  serious  difficulty  for  the 
historical  student  results  from  the  practice  of  recording  and  mention- 
ing roads  by  the  names  of  the  persons  near  whose  lands  they  passed, 
instead  of  the  names  of  the  points  or  places  through  which  the  road 
ran.  The  reason  for  this  is  obvious;  highways  could  not  be  described 
as  running  from  town  to  town  at  a  time  when,  with  very  few  excep- 
tions, there  were  no  towns. 


Direct  sources  for  the  early  history  of  highways  in  St.  Mary's  and 
Calvert  counties  are  no  longer  obtainable,  because  the  court  records 
of  these  counties  have  been  burned.  Some  information  may  be 
gained  from  the  proceedings  of  the  Assembly,  which  now  and  then 
busied  itself  with  matters  of  local  importance,  providing,  as  was 
shown  above,1  for  the  construction  of  a  main  road  from  Charles  county 
to  the  capital.  It  is  probable,  moreover,  that  the  methods  of  highway 
administration  here  were  identical  with  those  of  Charles  county,  of 
which  the  records  have  fortunately  been  preserved. 

CHARLES  COUNTY  RECORDS. 

The  records  of  the  County  Court  of  Charles  county  now  rest 
securely  in  the  Record  Office  at  Annapolis.  From  these  records  it 
appears  that  in  1666  "  each  respective  Constable  of  Charles  Countie  " 
was  by  warrant  ordered  "  to  appoint  good,  able  and  sufficient  men 
overseers  of  ye  works  to  be  performed  by  virtue  of  ye  said  Act  (1666) 
and  also  to  hire  procure  and  provide  for  them  sufficient  Labourers  and 
Labouring  tools  and  other  necessaries  for  ye  performance  of  ye  works- 

1P.  112. 


116  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IX    MARYLAND 

intended  in  ye  said  Act."  The  overseers  thus  appointed  were  ordered 
to  "  repaire  to  the  next  commissioner  inhabiting  nearest  to  you  for 
such  orders  and  directions  to  be  given  you  as  shall  be  needful  for  ye 
discharge  of  your  duties  herein.  Whereof  faile  not  as  you  will  answer 
&c."  * 

This  certainly  seems  a  good  beginning.  Unfortunately,  however, 
no  more  entries  are  to  be  found  for  the  space  of  twenty-four  years.2 
The  work  went  on  during  this  time,  no  doubt,  and  overseers  were 
annually  appointed,  but  the  clerks  neglected  to  keep  a  detailed  rec<  rd 
of  road  affairs. 

BALTIMORE  COUNTY  RECORDS. 

In  the  records  of  the  Baltimore  County  Court  the  earliest  entry  of 
interest,  which  bears  the  date  March  6,  1682,  recites  that  the  jurors 
for  Baltimore  county  "  do  present  the  overseers  of  the  highways  of 
Gunpowder  Hundred  and  the  overseers  of  the  highways  of  Patapsco 
for  not  making  the  highways  passable  for  man  or  horse."  The  over- 
seers of  Spesutie  Hundred,  farther  north,  were  also  presented.8  These 
drastic  measures  seem  to  have  been  efficient,  for  at  June  Court  the 
delinquent  overseers  were  excused  "  by  Reason  of  there  Amendmt 
of  ye  sd  Highways."  Several  other  orders  in  reference  to  roads  in 
particular  localities  were  given  at  different  times  by  the  Court. 

The  regulations  concerning  ferries,  the  management  of  which,  like 
that  of  the  roads,  was  in  the  hands  of  the  County  Commissioners,  are 
often  serviceable  in  determining  the  principal  courses  of  travel.  At 
November  Court,  1683,  for  example,  provision  was  made  for  ferries 
over  the  Patapsco,  Gunpowder,  and  Bush  rivers;'  this  and  subsequent 
entries  make  it  certain  that  by  1685  there  was  a  continuous  road  or 
roads  laid  out  from  the  Patapsco  to  the  Susquehanna.8  Not  more 
than  five  years  later,  the  Court  ordered  that  these  roads  should  be 

1  Charles  County  Court  Proceedings,  Liber  C,  pp.  84-86. 

2  Some  orders  are  indexed  for  the  year  1684,  but  this  volume  is  missing. 
8  Balto.  Co.  Court  Proceedings,  Lib.  D,  p.  103. 

4  Balto.  Co.  Court  Proceedings,  1683,  June.     These  are  preserved  without 
much  arrangement,  in  the  Kecord  Office,  in  Baltimore. 

5  Balto.  Co.  Court  Proceedings,  Lib.  D,  103. 

8  Across    the   Susquehanna,    in    Cecil    County,    was    Susquehannah    Manor, 
granted  to  George  Talbot,  in  1680.     This  region  was  as  yet  thinly  settled. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  117 

made  passable  for  carts.  In' 1692  the  usual  procedure  was  varied  by 
an  order  "  that  from  henceforward  the  persons  above-mentioned  their 
Maties  justices  Doe  grant  out  their  warrants  and  appoint  what  over- 
seers they  think  good  for  clearing  the  highways  in  their  respective 
hundreds,  as  they  shall  think  fitt."  Two  years  later  the  overseers 
were  ordered  to  take  with  them  "  Every  tythable  in  their  hundred  for 
the  making  of  good  highways  thirty  foote  wide,  not  leaveing  Loggs, 
Brush  or  Roots,  appearing  above  ground,  or  young  Saplings  in  the 
^  lid  Roades."  "Good  and  sufficient  bridges  for  man  and  horse 
*o  pass  over  "  were  also  to  be  constructed. 

After  these  praiseworthy  beginnings  the  energy  of  the  Baltimore 
County  Commissioners  seems  to  have  suffered  a  relapse,  since  very 
few  entries  are  to  be  found  for  a  considerable  time,  Two  noteworthy?  "0$ 
items  there  are,  however;  one  under  1695  gives  directions  to  clear  the 
road  from  the  Courthouse  to  the  Great  and  Little  Falls  of  Gun- 
powder; 2  the  other,  in  1711,  orders  the  construction  of  a  "  very  fair 
and  spatious  Road  directly  leading  out  of  the  Main  Road  to  this  town 
of  Joppa." 

THE   HERRMANS  AND  THE  ROADS  OF  CECIL   COUNTY. 

The  beginnings  of  highway-construction  on  the  Eastern  Shore,  at 
least  in  the  northern  part  of  it,  seem  to  have  been  the  care  of  a  single 
family.  Augustine  Herrman,  to  whom  reference  has  already  been 
made,  received  in  1662  the  grant  of  Bohemia  Manor  from  Cecilius, 
Lord  Baltimore.4  The  location  that  Herrman  chose  for  his  planta- 
tion was  an  additional  proof  of  his  intelligence.  Bohemia  Manor, 
bounded  on  the  west  by  the  Elk  river,  and  St.  Augustine  Manor,  a 
later  grant,  bounded  on  the  east  by  the  Delaware  river,  together 
spanned  the  Eastern  Shore  peninsula  at  about  its  narrowest  point,  and 
the  idea  of  connecting  the  navigable  waters  on  the  west  and  east  by  a 
road  had  occurred  to  Herrman  even  before  he  received  his  grant.5 
In  1671  the  authorities  at  IsTew  York  ordered  their  deputies  at  New 

1  Balto.  Co.  Court  Proceedings,  1694,  Nov.  Ct. 

2  Balto.  Co.  Court  Proceedings,  1695. 

3  Balto.  Co.  Court  Proceedings,  1711. 

4  Johnston.     History  of  Cecil  County,  p.  38. 

5  Hazard.     Annals  of  Pennsylvania,  p.  321. 

S 


118  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

Castle  to  clear  one-half  of  a  road  from  that  place  to  Herrman's  plan- 
tation, the  Marylanders  having  offered  to  clear  the  other  half.1  An- 
other road,  constructed  about  this  time,  connected  Herrman's  planta- 
tion with  that  of  his  sons  on  the  Delaware.2 

The  settlements  in  this  part  of  the  Province  increased  rapidly,  and 
in  1674  the  lands  lying  between  the  Susquehanna  and  the  Chester 
rivers,  which  had  been  hitherto  a  part  of  Baltimore  county,  were 
erected  into  a  new  county  under  the  name  of  Cecil.3  The  Cecil 
County  Court  took  up  the  work  of  the  Herrmans  and  devoted  much 
attention  to  the  making  of  roads.  An  interesting  example  of  these 
old  Cecil  roads  is  that  known  as  the  "  Old  Choptank  Road,"  which 
formed  the  dividing  line  between  Bohemia  and  St.  Augustine  Manors. 
"  It  was  originally/7  says  Johnston,  "  an  Indian  path  that  led  from  the 
Choptank  river  along  the  dividing  ridge  between  the  two  bays,  prob- 
ably far  up  into  Pennsylvania,  but  was  laid  out  and  cleared  from  the 
head  of  St.  George's  creek  to  the  Chester  river,  twelve  feet  wide,  for 
a  cartroad,  in  1682,  by  Casparus  Hermeii  and  Hugh  McGregory,  who 
were  appointed  for  the  purpose  by  the  Court."  By  1714  it  had  fallen 
into  disuse.4 

Ax  EARLY  MAIL-ROUTE. 

Perhaps  because  of  the  greater  density  of  population  on  the  upper 
Eastern  Shore  at  this  time,  and  the  existence  of  better  roads,  the 
route  down  the  Eastern  Shore  peninsula  became  the  favorite  line  of 
travel  from  Philadelphia  southward,  and  when,  under  the  general 
stimulation  that  followed  the  removal  of  the  capital  from  St.  Mary's 
to  Annapolis,  the  Assembly  established  a  public  post,  the  peninsula 
route  was  selected. 

Previously  ordinary  letters  relating  to  public  affairs  had  been  for- 

1  Johnston.     History  of  Cecil  County,  p.  76. 

2  Johnston.     History  of  Cecil  County,  pp.  78-9. 
8  McMahon.     History  of  Maryland,  p.  92. 

4  Johnston.  History  of  Cecil  County,  p.  187.  A  strip  of  land  five  or  six 
miles  wide  across  this  peninsula  at  its  narrowest  point  might  well  be  se- 
lected to  represent  the  steps  in  the  development  of  methods  of  transporta- 
tion: Indian  trail,  cartroad,  stage-route,  turnpike,  canal  and  railroad. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  119 

warded  from  house  to  house.1  Upon  occasions  of  unusual  importance 
communication  with  the  neighboring  provinces  was  carried  on  by 
means  of  "  expresses/7  or  mounted  postmen.  A  great  advance  upon 
the  earlier  methods  was  made  by  the  establishment  in  1695  of^a  Teg- 
ular post.  It  was  ordered  that  the  route  "  begin  at  Newton's  Point 
upon  Wicomico  River  in  Potomack  and  so  to  proceed  on  to  Allen's 
Mill,  from  Allen's  3d  ill  to  Benedict  Leonard  Town,  from  Benedict 
Leonard  Town  over  Patuxent  to  Mr.  George  Lingan's,  from  Mr. 
Lingan's  to  Mr.  Larkin's  and  so  to  South  River  and  Annapolis.  From 
thence  to  Kent  and  so  to  William  Stadt 3  and  from  thence  to  Daniel 
ToasV  and  so  on  to  Adam  Petersen's  and  from  thence  to  New  Castle 
and  so  directly  to  Philadelphia." 

A  "  sallary  "  of  fifty  dollars  was  allowed  Mr.  John  Perry,  "  the 
post,"  for  carrying  "  all  public  messages  and  Paquettes  eight  times 
a  year  betwixt  Potomack  and  Philadelphia." 

On  special  occasions  Mr.  Perry  seems  to  have  acted  as  "  express  "  to 
points  not  included  in  his  usual  route.  He  survived  his  appointment 
only  three  years;  whether  his  disease  resulted  from  the  exposure  to 
which  his  duties  subjected  him  is  not  known,  but  after  his  death  the 
system  seems  to  have  been  abandoned  by  the  Maryland  Legislature.8 
It  is  probable  that  the  Pennsylvania  authorities  maintained  a  similar 
post-route  for  some  time.' 

THE  LAW  OF  1704  AND  ITS  SUPPLEMENTS. 

The  year  1696  saw  the  enactment  of  a  new  road-law  entitled  "  An 
Act  for  the  better  clearing  of  the  Roads,  and  directing  all  Travellers 
through  the  Province."  This  was  the  first  important  advance  upon 
the  early  law  of  1666,  which  had  been  reenacted  from  time  to  time, 

1  Assembly  Proceedings,  vol.  i,   p.  415,  April-May,   1661.     (See  also  subse- 
quent laws.) 

2  Probably  not  far  from  Mount  Pleasant. 

3  Oxford. 

4  On  Chester  river. 

s  Upper  House  Journal,  May  14,  1695,  p.  809. 
8  McMahon,  History  of  Maryland,  p.  266. 

1  See  Watson's  Annals  of  Philadelphia,  vol.  ii,  p.  391;  vol.  iii,  p.  47  (Phila- 
delphia, 1890). 
8  Bacon's  Laws  of  Maryland,  1696,  chap,  xxiii. 


120  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

with  but  little  amendment.  The  text  of  the  act  of  1696  is  not  to  be 
found  in  the  Journals  of  Assembly  nor  in  Bacon's  Laws  of  Mary- 
land; but  lengthy  quotations  from  it,  transcribed  in  the  records  of 
Charles  County  Court,  indicate  that  its  provisions  were  practically 
the  same  as  those  of  an  act  passed  eight  years  later,  in  1704,1  bearing 
the  same  title  as  the  law  of  1666. 

The  act  of  1704,  the  text  of  which  has  been  preserved,  constituted, 
with  a  few  amendments,  the  road-law  of  the  Province  of  Maryland  for 
the  next  half  century.  By  its  provisions  all  public  and  main  roads 
were  to  be  hereafter  cleared  and  well-grubbed,  fit  for  traveling, 
twenty-foot  wide;  and  good  and  substantial  bridges  made  where 
such  were  necessary,  at  the  discretion  of  the  County  Courts.  Once 
a  year  the  latter  were  to  "  ascertain2  and  set  down  "  in  their  records 
what  were  the  public  roads  of  their  respective  counties  and  to  appoint 
overseers  of  the  same.  Any  person  altering  or  changing  such  public 
roads  without  the  leave  of  the  Governor  and  Council,  or  the  County 
Justices,  was  to  be  fined  500  Ibs.  of  tobacco.  The  same  fine  was 
provided  in  case  any  overseer  so  appointed  should  neglect  to  clear  the 
roads  under  his  charge.  Every  laborer  who  refused  to  serve  the  over- 
seer and  every  master  of  servants,  who,  upon  summons  from  the  over- 
seer, refused  to  send  all  his  taxable  male  servants  to  assist  the  over- 
seer, was  to  be  fined;  every  laborer  100  pounds  of  tobacco,  and  the 
master  100  pounds  for  every  servant  named  and  not  sent.  The  clerk 
of  the  county  was  ordered  to  issue  to  the  overseers  appointed,  warrants 
which  should  be  delivered  to  them  by  the  sheriffs  of  their  respective 
counties.  If  clerk  or  sheriff  was  delinquent  in  this  respect  he  was 
mulcted  1000  pounds  of  tobacco. 

That  highways  were  still  in  a  rudimentary  state,  and  that  it  must 
have  been  easy  to  lose  one's  way,  appears  from  the  fifth  section  of  this 
act,  which  is  so  curious  that  it  had  best  be  quoted  exactly. 

"  V.  And  that  all  the  Roads  that  lead  to  any  Ferries,  Court-house  of  any 
County,  or  to  any  Church,  or  leading-  through  any  County  to  the  port  of 
Annapolis,  shall  be  marked  on  both  Sides  the  Road  with  Two  Notches;  if  the 
Road  lead  to  Annapolis,  the  Road  that  leads  there,  at  the  leaving-  the  other 
Road,  shall  be  marked  on  the  Face  of  the  Tree,  in  a  smooth  Place  cut  for 

1  Bacon's  Laws  of  Maryland,  1704,  chap.  xxi. 

2  Establish  with  certainty. 


MARYLAND  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY. 


VOLUME  III,   PLATE  XII. 


FIG.  l.-VIEW   OF   NOTCHES    ON   TREE. 


Friedenwald  Co. 


FlG.  2.— VIEW    OF    ROAD    WITH    NOTCHED    TREE. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  121 

that  Purpose,  with  the  letters  A  A  set  on  with  a  Pair  of  Marking-Irons,  and 
coloured;  and  so  with  Two  Notches  all  along  the  Road;  and  where  at  any 
Place  it  leaves  any  other  Road  shall  be  again  distinguished  with  the  Mark 
aforesaid,  on  the  Face  of  the  Tree,  with  a  Pair  of  Marking-Irons,  and_col- 
oured  as  aforesaid.  And  any  Road  on  the  Eastern  Shore,  in  Talbot  County, 
that  leads  to  the  Port  of  William-Stadt  [Oxford]  at  the  entering  of  the 
same,  and  on  parting  with  or  dividing  from  any  other  Road,  shall  be  marked 
on  the  face  of  a  Tree,  in  a  smooth  Place  cut  for  that  purpose,  with  the  let- 
ter W,  and  so  with  Two  Notches  all  along  the  Road.  And  the  Roads  that 
lead  to  any  County  Court-house,  shall  have  Two  Notches  on  the  Trees  on 
both  Sides  of  the  Road  as  aforesaid,  and  another  Notch  a  Distance  above 
the  other.  And  any  Road  that  leads  to  a  Church,  shall  be  marked  at  the 
Entrance  into  the  same,  and  at  the  leaving  any  other  Road,  with  a  Slip  cut 
down  the  Face  of  the  Tree,  near  the  ground.  And  any  Road  leading  to 
a  Ferry,  and  dividing  from  other  public  Roads,  shall  be  marked  with  Three 
Notches  of  equal  Distance  at  the  Entrance  into  the  same.  And  these  Rules 
and  Methods,  the  several  Justices  of  the  County  Courts,  shall,  from  Time  to 
Time,  give  in  Charge  to  the  Overseers  of  the  Highways,  by  them  to  be  ap- 
pointed for  that  purpose;  who  are  likewise  enjoined  carefully  and  strictly 
to  observe  and  perform  the  same,  under  the  Penalty  aforesaid." 

Survivals  of  this  manner  of  directing  travelers  appear  in  the  various 
"  Notch  Roads "  still  to  be  found  in  some  counties  of  the  state. 
Along  at  least  one  of  these,  the  "  Three  Notch  Road  "  in  southern 
Maryland,  notches,  some  of  a  remote  date,  may  still  be  discerned  in 
the  bark  of  many  of  the  oldest  oaks  as  shown  in  Plate  XII. 

A  considerable  advance  in  methods  of  construction  is  indicated  by 
the  detailed  provisions  as  to  the  width  and  the  "  grubbing  "  of  the 
roads  and  the  erection  of  bridges.1  The  use  of  carts  for  freight  trans- 
portation by  land  was  becoming  more  general  in  the  thickly  settled 
parts  of  the  Province,  although  travelers  still  journeyed  almost  exclu- 
sively upon  horseback. 

Although  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  1704  are  more  detailed  than 
those  of  the  law  of  1666,  the  general  principle  of  procedure  was  not 
materially  altered;  overseers  were  still  appointed  by  the  County 
Courts.  One  important  difference,  however,  was  that  while  the 

1  The  overseers  of  the  highways  were  frequently  hindered  in  repairing 
bridges  by  the  refusal  of  the  owners  of  the  adjacent  lands  to  permit  them 
to  cut  trees  for  that  purpose.  Therefore,  in  1724,  the  overseers  were  au- 
thorized, by  a  law  [chap,  xiv],  supplementary  to  that  of  1704,  to  make  use  of 
any  trees,  except  those  fit  for  clapboards  or  cooper's  timber,  for  building 
or  repairing  any  bridge  maintained  at  a  public  or  county  expense;  i.  e.,  for 
which  appropriations  were  made  distinct  from  those  for  highways. 


122  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

earlier  act  authorized  the  County  Court  to  levy  tobacco  or  labor  to 
be  assessed  equally  upon  the  taxables  of  each  county,  the  later  law 
imposed  a  fine  for  non-attendance  when  summoned  by  an  overseer 
to  work  upon  the  highways.  The  recovery  of  these  fines  proved  vex- 
atious. Hence  in  17231  the  prosecution  of  such  fines  in  the  County 
Court  was  stopped  and  the  determination  of  the  penalty  left  to  any 
one  justice  who  must  keep  a  list  of  such  determinations  and  return  the 
same  every  year  to  the  Court,  to  be  levied  on  execution  by  the  sheriff, 
if  unpaid. 


Another  important  innovation  of  the  act  of  1704  was  the  require- 
ment that  the  justices  should  once  a  year  "  ascertain  and  set  down  " 
in  their  records  the  public  roads  of  their  respective  counties.  Occa- 
sionally, when  the  County  Clerk  was  not  too  much  occupied,  this 
order  was  obeyed,  but  such  entries  are  few  and  scattered.  In  view  of 
the  rarity  and  local  interest  of  these  "  ascertainments  "  of  roads,  the 
following  have  been  transcribed: 

CHARLES   COUNTY. 

"  The  Publick  Roads  of  Charles  County  Nominated  (September  14th, 
1697)." 

"  From  Newton's  Point  to  Pyskyawaxon  to  William  Marshall's  and  from 
thence  to  William  Thompson's  and  soe  to  ye  head  of  Port  Tobacco  Creek; 
thence  to  Nangemy  Mill,  and  from  ye  said  Mill  to  Mr.  Randolph  Hinson's 
and  so  round  to  Mattawoman,  and  from  thence  to  ye  head  of  Port  Tobacco 
Creeke  again,  and  thence  to  ye  Court-house  of  this  County,  and  from  ye 
aforsd  William  Marshall's  to  ye  Mill  at  ye  head  of  Wicomico  River,  and  so 
over  ye  head  of  ye  said  River  down  to  Budd's  Creek  and  from  ye  Mill  at  ye 
head  of  Wicomico  River  aforesaid  up  to  ye  Court-house  of  this  County,  and 
from  ye  Court-house  ye  road  that  goeth  to  Piscattaway  to  ye  uttmost  bounds 
of  the  County  and  out  of  ye  said  Roade  about  three  miles  above  ye  Court- 
house a  new  Roade  to  be  Cleared  betweene  Henry  Dreydens  Quarter  & 
Richard  Brightwells  Quarter  to  goe  to  Annapolis  to  ye  bounds  of  Prince 
George  County,  and  from  ye  Court-house  ye  Roade  to  ye  bridges  over  Zachyah 
Swamp,  and  from  thence  to  Widdow  Walters,  and  from  thence  to  Benedict 
Leonard  Town,  and  from  thence  up  to  James  Bigger's  and  from  Budd's 
Creek  to  ye  bridges  over  Piles  his  fresh  branch  and  from  thence  up  to 
Major  Boaremans  Quarter  and  soe  to  ye  utmost  bounds  of  ye  County  towards 
Annapolis  that  way." 

1  Bacon's  Laws  of  Maryland,  1723,  chap.  xvii. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL,    SURVEY  123 

CECIL  COUNTY. 

"  The  Court  ascertains  all  ye  publique  Eoads  of  this  Coty  Vizt. 

Nov.  ye  16,  1710. 

"  From  ye  Cort  house  to  ye  ferry  of  Bohemia  ye  one  leading  directly  to 
Franklins  point  ye  other  by  ye  way  of  ye  white  Marsh,  &  soe  to  Broxsons  by 
ye  way  of  Mr.  Norris's  Mill  &  another  leading  by  ye  way  of  John  Running- 
ton's  to  ye  head  of  Bohemia,  another  from  ye  Cort  house  to  ye  head  of  Sas- 
safras, Another  from  Wm.  Davis's  to  ye  Cross  Paths  nigh  ye  head  of  Bo- 
hemia, another  from  sd  Crosspaths  to  Vanbebbers  Mill  &  from  thence  to 
Jno  Chicks  &  from  thence  to  Smith's  Mill  &  from  thence  to  Susquehannah 
ferry,  from  thence  to  Turkey  point  to  Smith's  Mill,  from  Turkey  Cock  hill 
to  the  head  of  North  East  River  from  ye  North  side  of  Bohemia  ferry  to 
John  Chicks  from  ye  Maine  Road  where  it  strikes  of  upon  ye  Manner  Road 
to  ye  head  of  Back  Creek,  above  where  Hanse  Marens  formerly  lived  &  from 
thence  the  highest  way  to  Smith's  Mill  ye  road  from  ye  northside  of  Bo- 
hemia ferry  to  Elk  Ferry,  and  from  ye  northside  of  Elk  ferry  to  ye  head 
of  North  East  River." 

ANNE  ARUNDEL  COUNTY. 
August  Court,  1734. 

"  The  following  Roads  are  Deemed  and  ascertained  by  the  Justices  of 
this  Court  to  be  publick  Roads  (Viz),  from  Annapolis  over  Severn  Bridge 
to  Patapsco  Ferry  from  Annapolis  to  Huntington,  from  Annapolis  to  Elk 
Ridge  from  Annapolis  round  the  head  of  South  River  From  Appapolis  to 
South  River  ferry  from  Severn  Bridge  to  Bells  Mill  from  Elk  Ridge 
Road  to  Indian  Landing  From  Bells  Mill  to  South  River  Ferry  from 
South  River  Ferry  to  Queen  Annes  Ferry  from  South  River  Ferry  to  the 
Bay  Side  Road  that  leads  to  fishing  Creek  and  from  South  River  Ferry  the 
Road  that  leads  through  the  Mannour  from  Severn  Ferry  to  Long  Bridge 
by  the  Chappel  to  the  Mountain,  from  Severn  Ferry  round  the  head  thereof 
from  Patapsco  Falls  to  Rowle's  from  Deep  Run  to  Patapsco  ferry  from 
London  Town  to  Pigg  point  Ferry  from  London  Town  to  Lyons  Creek  from 
the  head  of  Road  River  Hunda  to  Queen  Annes  Ferry  from  Henry  Ridge- 
ley's  to  the  landing  at  Patapsco  at  the  Mill  thereof  from  William  Ridgeley's 
to  the  said  Landing  at  the  head  of  Patapsco  from  Catlins  old  fields  to  Car- 
rolls  Mannour  From  Catlins  Old  Fields  to  the  Locust  Thicket." 

The  Ferries  are  ascertained  as  follows: 

"  South  Kiver  from  Crown  Point  to  the  usual  landing  at  London 
Town,  from  Hughes  Landing  to  Moals  &  Giles  Points.  Patapsco.  Pigg 
Point." 

EARLY  "  EOLLING  EOADS." 

Two  years  after  the  removal  of  the  capital  to  Annapolis  the  Assem- 
bly, as  a  part  of  their  scheme  for  developing  Annapolis  into  a  thriv- 
ing port,  ordered  the  construction  of  four  "  rolling  roads  "  for  the 


124:  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

transportation  of  tobacco  in  cask  into  the  town.  Provision  for  some 
of  these  "  rolling  roads  "  was  made  by  nearly  every  County  Court. 
"  In  order  to  pass  the  tobacco  hogsheads  safely  over  the  '  rolling  roads  ' 
it  was  necessary  that  they  should  be  made  and  hooped  in  the  strongest 
manner;  the  tobacco  after  being  dried  and  stripped  from  the  stems 
was  packed  tightly  in  the  hogsheads  and  '  headed '  up;  these  were 
then  rolled  over  and  over  by  two  men  to  each  hogshead,  to  the  place 
of  shipment.  The  '  rolling  roads  7  were  generally  of  a  roundabout 
description,  from  the  necessity  of  avoiding  hills,  and  though  long  out 
of  use,  could  be  distinctly  traced  on  Elkridge,  after  1820.  Several 
roads  of  this  description  are  still  distinguishable  in  Harford  County." 
Later,  these  casks  were  fitted  with  shafts  and  hauled  by  oxen. 

EXEMPTIONS  FROM  HIGHWAY  SERVICE. 

An  interesting  feature  of  the  road-law  of  the  Province  lay  in  the 
provisions  concerning  exemption  from  labor  upon  the  roads.  To  en- 
courage the  manufacture  of  iron,  the  Assembly  in  1732  Bordered  that 
no  white  man  or  slave,  employed  about  any  iron  work  (unless  he  was 
also  employed  in  raising  tobacco),  should  be  obliged  to  work  upon 
the  roads  or  bridges.  This  privilege  was  abused;  so  in  1736  3  exemp- 
tion from  labor  on  the  roads  was  restricted  to  those  constantly  em- 
ployed in  iron-works.  The  law  was  later  amended,  in  1750,*  by 
requiring  the  owners  of  iron-works  to  send  for  road-work  one  out  of 
every  ten  laborers  they  employed.  Later,  owners  of  water-mills  were 
obliged  to  see  to  the  repairs  of  the  roads  that  crossed  their  property, 
but  were  exempt  from  other  work  upon  the  roads.  On  the  other 
hand,  overseers  of  the  highways  were  excused  from  jury  service  while 
in  pursuit  of  their  official  duties.5 

NOTE. — The  preceding-  extracts  and  references  include  all  the  legislation 
concerning  highways  enacted  during  the  seventeenth  and  the  first  half  of 

1  Tyson,  M.  E.     A  Brief  Account  of  the  Settlement  of  Ellicott's  Mills,  p.  25 
(Baltimore,  1865). 

2  Bacon's   Laws    of    Maryland,    1732,    chap.    xvii.     This    work   includes    the 
laws  passed  prior  to  1764. 

3  1736,  chap.  xvii. 
1750,  chap.  xiv. 

5  1715,  chap,  xxxvii. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  125 

the  eighteenth  centuries,  with  the  exception  of  occasional  laws  such  as  that 
of  1750  (chap,  xv),  to  empower  the  Justices  of  Prince  George's  County 
Court,  "  to  treat  and  agree  with  an  undertaker  or  undertakers,  to  stop  a 
breach  now  made,  across  the  main  road  in  Queen  Anne  Town."  The^nsr  in 
this  case  of  the  word  "  undertaker  "  in  the  sense  of  "  contractor  "  is  inter- 
esting. 


COMMEKCIAL  GROWTH  AND  THE  "  WESTWARD 
MOVEMENT." 

MARYLAND  TOWNED  AND  "  UNTOWNED." 

The  "  ascertainments  "  of  the  seventeenth  century  in  the  Maryland 
County  Court  records  impress  one  with  the  decidedly  local  character 
of  the  roads  of  that  period,  and  the  absence  of  the  extensive  highways 
of  later  times.  A  similar  contrast  with  present  conditions  is  to  be 
seen  in  the  dispersion  of  the  colonial  population  and  the  non-existence 
of  the  many  towns  that  are  now  to  be  found  throughout  the  state. 
Both  these  contrasts,  it  will  appear,  have  the  same  explanation. 

The  colonists  early  felt  the  lack  of  some  depots,  'or  centers  of  com- 
merce, and  endeavored  to  supply  them.  A  description  of  Maryland 
written  in  the  year  1670-1  states  that — 

"  The  Inhabitants  (being  in  number  at  present  about  16000)  have 
begun  the  building  of  several  Townes,  which  in  a  few  yeares  'tis  hoped 
may  come  to  some  perfection;  as  Calverton,  Herrington  and  Harvy- 
Town,  all  Commodiously  seated  for  the  benefit  of  Trade  and  Con- 
veniency  of  Shipping;  but  the  principal  Town  is  St.  Maryes,  seated 
on  St.  George's  River,  being  beautified  with  divers  well-built  Houses, 
and  is  the  chief  place  or  seate  of  Trade  for  the  Province" 

Soon  the  Legislature  took  up  the  idea,  and  within  a  few  decades 
after  1683  ordered  the  erection  of  over  one  hundred  "  towns,"  all 
upon  tidewater.2  Within  a  quarter  of  a  century,  however,  most  of 
them  had  disappeared;  some,  indeed,  had  never  actually  existed;  some 

1Blome,  E.  "A  description  of  the  Island  of  Jamaica;  with  other  Isles 
and  Territories  in  America,  to  which  the  English  are  related."  London, 
1672",  p.  165. 

2  Bacon's  Laws,  1683,  chap.  v. 


126  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

-died  a  lingering  death;  some  were  "  untowned,"  as  a  subsequent  act 
expressed  it,  by  the  Assembly.  That  these  fiat  towns  should  fail  was 
inevitable.  "  The  innumerable  rivers  and  creeks/'  says  Dr.  "Wil- 
helm,  "  that  ramify  the  state  like  the  arterial  system  of  the  body 
caused  the  canoe  and  the  pinnace  to  supersede  the  cart  and  the  car- 
riage, and  prevented  the  growth  of  the  cross-road  settlements  as  in  the 
-other  colonies,  and  forced  the  planters  to  do  their  merchandising  at  the 
tide-water  settlements."  Not  until  the  colonists  had  sought  new 
lands  away  from  the  waterside  could  roads  take  the  place  of  rivers, 
and,  concentrating  at  points  of  vantage,  foster  in  a  natural  growth  the 
towns  which  refused  to  spring  into  life  at  the  bidding  of  the  Legis- 
lature. 

THE  WESTWARD  MOVEMENT. 

During  the  royal  government  of  the  province  "  immigration,  the 
principal  cause  of  the  rapid  increase  in  population  of  the  colony  during 
the  preceding  era,  had  in  a  great  degree  ceased."  In  the  second 
quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century  settlement  commenced  anew. 

Just  as  in  1730  the  settlements  in  Pennsylvania  had  pushed  beyond 
Lancaster,  so,  too,  in  Maryland  the  "  westward  movement  "  had  begun. 
Prince  George's  county,  set  off  from  Charles  in  1695,3  was  in  its  turn 
reduced  to  definite  limits  by  the  separation  of  Frederick  county  in 
1748.4  In  the  meantime  the  gradual  growth  westward  of  the  colonial 
settlements  is  seen  in  the  records  of  the  Prince  George's  County  Court. 

Coincident  with  this  growth  came  the  extension  of  lines  of  com- 
munication. At  November  Court,  1712,  the  overseer  of  the  New 
Scotland  Hundred  was  directed  to  lay  out  and  clear  a  road  from  the 
forks  of  the  east  branch  of  the  Potomac  to  the  upper  lands  of  Eock 
creek.  Sixteen  years  later  the  inhabitants  of  Monocacy  Hundred 
petitioned  for  a  road  from  the  ford  of  Monocacy  to  the  house  of  Mr. 
Nathan  Wickham.  In  1739  Meredith  Davis  claimed  pay  for  keep- 

1  Wilhelm.     Local   Institutions   of   Maryland.     The    Town,    III.     J.    H.    IL, 
-Studies  in  Historical  and  Political  Science,  p.  405. 
-  McMahon,  History  of  Maryland,  p.  273. 
s  McMahon,  p.  92-3.     Bacon's  Laws,  1695,  chap.  xiii. 
4  McMahon,  p.  94.     Bacon's  Laws,  1748,  chap.  xv. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  127 

ing  a  ferry  over  Monocacy  on  "  the  wagon  road  that  comes  by  John 
Stull's  to  Monacosy."  And  in  the  same  year  there  was  presented  to 
the  Assembly  the  petition  "  of  several  Inhabitants  at  anoT  above 
Monocasy  Creek,"  "  others  at  and  about  the  Blue  Ridge  alias  Chen- 
andore  Mountain,"  others  "  about  Monocasy  above  the  Mountains  of 
Potomac  River,"  and  still  others  of  "  Potomac  River  on  the  back  parts 
of  Virginia,"  praying  that  "  a  good  wagon  road  might  be  made 
at  the  public  charge  from  the  several  places  aforementioned  to  the 
city  of  Annapolis  .  .  .  for  the  more  easy  carriage  of  their  grain,  pro- 
visions and  other  commodities."  The  economic  importance  of  such 
a  connection  was  apparently  not  appreciated  by  the  Lower  House, 
which  delayed  consideration  of  this  petition  to  another  session.2 

THE  MONOCASY   [MONOCACY]   ROAD. 

The  section  of  Maryland  mentioned  in  the  petition  just  quoted  had 
for  some  time  been  connected  with  Philadelphia  by  an  important 
route  of  travel  and  traffic  known  as  the  Monocasy  Road.  This  led 
from  the  western  part  of  Virginia  across  the  Potomac  near  the  mouth 
of  Conococheague  creek,  passing  near  Frederick  and  through  Mo- 
nocasy, a  German  settlement  supposed  to  have  been  near  the  town 
now  called  Creagerstown,  to  the  Pennsylvania  line.3  It  is  said  that 
this  road  was  originally  an  old  Indian  trail,  later  used  extensively  for 
pack-horse  travel  and  by  missionaries  as  a  route  connecting  the 
western  part  of  Virginia  with  the  German  settlement  in  Pennsylvania.4 
In  1739  the  Monocasy  Road,  or  certainly  the  Pennsylvania  part  of 
it,  was  laid  out  as  a  wagon-road,  connecting  at  Lancaster  with  the 
road  from  Philadelphia.  From  Lancaster  it  ran  westward,  crossing 
the  Susquehanna  at  Wright's  Ferry,  now  Wrightsville,  thence  through 
the  settlement  upon  the  Big  Codorus,  afterwards  laid  out  as  York, 
thence  through  Hanover,  crossing  the  Maryland  line  near  Kreutz- 

1  The  Eecords  of  the  County  Court  of  Prince  George's  county  repose  in 
the  attic  of  the  Courthouse  at  Marlboro,  mixed  up  with  a  ton  or  so  of  old 
paper,  cases,  accounts,  etc. 

'  L.  H.  Journals,  1720  to  1739,  May  14. 

3  Schulz.     First  Settlements  of  Germans  in  Maryland,  pp.  5-6. 

4  Gibson  (Ed.).     History  q^^jjg^e^  p.  321. 

THf 


128  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

miller's  Mill  on  Conewago  creek,  and  so  to  the  Potomac  as  described 
above.1 

This  early  connection  with  Philadelphia  had  done  much  to  develop 
this  part  of  Maryland.  In  1745,  the  town  of  Frederick  was  laid  out 
on  lands  belonging  to  Daniel  Dulany  of  Annapolis,  who  had  the 
economic  welfare  of  Maryland  much  at  heart.  Other  settlements 
had  preceded  this,  and  many  followed.  The  soil  was  excellent,  and 
one  might  see  "  turkish  corn  [maize  or  Indian  corn]  almost  without 
manure,  with  stalks  ten  and  more  feet  long.'7  Soon  highways  were 
cleared  between  Frederick  and  Annapolis  and  between  Frederick  and 
Baltimore.3 

TRAVEL  NORTH  AND  SOUTH. 

Meanwhile  closer  and  more  frequent  communication  was  being 
established  between  Maryland  and  her  neighbors  on  the  north  and 
south.  Between  the  years  1705  and  1748  no  less  than  fifteen  ferries 
across  the  Potomac  river  into  Maryland  were  established  by  the  Assem- 
bly of  Virginia.4  From  Philadelphia,  Jonathan  Dickinson  writes,  in 
1717 :5  "  We  have  a  settled  post  from  Maryland  and  Virginia  unto  us, 
and  goes  through  all  our  northern  colonies,  whereby  advices  from 

1  Gibson  (Ed.).     History  of  York  Co.,  Pa.,  p.  514.     It  is  probably  the  Mo- 
nocasy  Koad  that  is  set  down  on  the  map  as  the  "  Great  Philadelphia  Wag- 
gon Road."    In  the  Post  Map  of  New  England,  New  York,  New  Jersey  and 
Pennsylvania,  by  Moll,  dated  1730,  which  is  one  of  the  earliest  to  contain 
any  indication  of  roads,  this  highway  is  continued  only  as  far  south  as  the 
Maryland  line.     Not  much  later  it  was  paralleled  by  one  from  Winchester 
in  Virginia  to  Shippensburg,  Pa,,  across  Maryland,  further  to  the  west. 

2  Schulz.     First  Settlements,  etc.,  p.  7. 
8  Ibid.,  p.  12. 

4  See  Hening's  Statutes  at  Large,  passim,  and  especially  the  Ferry  Act  of 
1748,  vi,  Hening,  18.  Some  of  the  more  important  of  these  Ferries  were: 

1705.     Col.  Wm.  Fitzhugh's  in  Stafford  Co.,  Va. 

1720.     From  Col.  Rice  Hoe's  to  Cedar  Pt.,  Md. 

1732.     From  just  below  Quantico  Creek  to  Col.  Geo.  Mason's  in  Md. 

1740.  From  Dieg's  Neck,  Prince  William  Co.,  Va.,  to  the  lower  side  of 
Pamunky  in  Prince  George's  Co.,  Md. 

1744.  Evan  Watkins,  opposite  mouth  of  "  Canagochego." 

1745.  Wm.  Clifton,  Fairfax  Co.,  Va.,  to  Prince  George's  Co.,'  Md. 
1755.     From  land  of  Thos.  Swearingen  in  Frederick  Co.,  Va. 
1755.     From  land  of  Lawrence  Washington  in  Stafford  Co.,  Va. 

8  Watson.     Annals  of  Philadelphia,  vol.  ii,  p.  C92. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  129 

Boston  unto  Williamsburg  in  Virginia  is  complete  in  four  weeks,  from 
March  to  December,  and  in  double  that  time  in  the  other  months  of 
the  year."  Ten  years  later,  "  the  mail  to  Annapolis  is  opened  to  go 
once  a  fortnight  in  summer  and  once  a  month  in  winter,  via  New 
Castle  &c.,  to  the  Western  Shore,  and  back  to  Eastern  Shore;  man- 
aged by  William  Bradford  in  Philadelphia,  and  by  William  Parks  in 
Annapolis." 

Maps,  newspapers  and  almanacs  likewise  make  clear  the  constant 
increase  of  travel.  The  maps  are  more  detailed.  Another  map  by 
Moll  of  the  same  date  (1730)  as  that  mentioned  above  shows  very 
roughly  the  post-road  from  Philadelphia  across  the  Susquehanna  and 
by  the  heads  of  the  other  rivers  to  Annapolis,  thence  to  Marlboro, 
thence  to  Stafford  C.  IT.,  in  Virginia, 

The  maps  of  Evans  (1749)2  and  of  Fry  and  Jefferson  (1757)  indi- 
cate the  main  lines  of  travel  through  Maryland,  and  show  that  a  con- 
siderable choice  of  route  was  possible.  Also  the  Maryland  Gazette 
contains  many  advertisements  illustrating  the  increase  of  intercolonial 
communication. 

In  Evans7  map  the  post-road  runs  from  the  Potomac  to  London 
Town,  passing  near  Annapolis,  with  branches  to  and  from  that  city, 
forming  a  triangle;  then  across  the  Magothy,  with  one  branch  passing 
around  the  head  of  Patapsco  by  Elkridge,  and  another  crossing  the 
Patapsco  directly,  and  meeting  the  first  at  New  Town;  thence  to 
Joppa,  the  mouth  of  the  Susquehanna,  Northeast,  and  Hollingsworth, 
whence  one  branch  goes  to  Ogle  Town,  Pennsylvania,  and  another 
to  New  Castle,  Delaware.  Another  road  branches  off  just  west  of 
the  Delaware  line,  and  runs  south  to  Georgetown,  upon  the  Sassafras, 
and  thence  to  New  Town. 

Fry  and  Jefferson's  map  shows  some  variations  from  the  others.  The 
post-road  crosses  the  Potomac  at  Belhaven,  or  Alexandria,  and  so  to 
London  Town  and  Annapolis.  This  is  met  at  the  Patuxent  by  another 
road  from  Charlestown  [Port  Tobacco]  passing  through  Upper  Marl- 

1  Watson.     Annals  of  Philadelphia,  vol.  ii,  p.  392. 

-  Mathews.     Maps  and  Map-makers  of  Maryland.     Maryland  Geol.  Survey, 
vol.  ii,  pp.  337- :SS. 


130  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

boro.  The  route  is  then  similar  to  Joppa,  passing  to  the  northwest  of 
the  old  site  of  Baltimore  Town  upon  Bush  river,  then  to  the  Susque- 
hanna,  Principio,  Charlestown  and  New  Castle.  The  route  down  the 
Eastern  Shore  is  also  given. 

In  June,  1729,  John  Carnan,  at  Bohemia  Landing,  advertises  that 
in  addition  to  a  sloop  and  hands  for  the  trade  of  the  Chesapeake  Bay, 
he  likewise  keeps  carts  and  horses  for  carrying  goods  by  land  between 
the  two  bays  of  the  Delaware  and  Chesapeake,  that  is,  between  Apo- 
quinomy  and  Bohemia  Landing.  At  a  later  time,1  William  Clifton, 
of  Fairfax  county,  Ya.,  declares  that  all  persons  "  may  there  be 
assured  of  a  ready  Passage  over  Potomack  Eiver,  and  Good  Entertain- 
ment for  Man  and  Horse;  and  as  the  River  is  narrower  in  that  part 
than  below  it  may  reasonably  be  allowed  the  most  convenient  and 
short  road  from  Annapolis  to  Williamsburg."  The  distances  are 
given  as  follows : 

Miles. 

Annapolis  to  South  River  Ferry 4 

thence  "  Queen  Anne  9 

"  Marlboro  9 

"  Broad  Creek  16 

"  said  Clifton's  Ferry  in  Va 2 

"  Occoquan  Ferry  16 

"  Acquia 18 

"  Fredericksburg-  Ferry 16 

"  Caroline  C.  H 20 

"  Burk's  Ordinary  13 

"  New  Castle  27 

"  New  Kent  C.  H 20 

"  Fremeaux  Ordinary  - 14 

"  Williams  16 

In  all     200 

Poor  Kichard's  Almanac  for  1733  gives  "  A  Description  of  the 
Highways  &  Koads  From  Annapolis  in  Maryland  to  Philadelphia/'7 
145  miles  thus  accounted: 

1  Maryland  Gazette,  1746,  August  19. 
-  Inn  or  Hotel. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  131 

Ifilea. 

Annapolis  to  Patapsco  Ferry 30 

thence      "    Gunpowder  Ferry 20 

"    Susquehanna     7725~ 

"    Principio  Iron-works    3 

"    North  East   6 

"    Elk  River  7 

"    New  Castle    17 

"    Christine  Ferry   5 

"    Brandywyne    1 

"    Naamans    Creek    9 

"    Chester    5 

"    Derby     9 

"    Philadelphia 8 

THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  NORTHERN  MARYLAND. 

With  the  development  of  the  means  of  intercourse  came  thicker 
settlement.  The  northern  part  of  the  province  now  began  to  be  set- 
tled rapidly.  An  extensive  tobacco  trade  made  the  town  of  Joppa  on 
the  Gunpowder  river  for  many  years  the  commercial  center  of  north- 
ern Maryland,  and  the  numerous  "  Joppa  roads  "  testify  to  the  im- 
portance of  these  highways  to  the  development  of  the  town.  The 
decline  of  Joppa  was  due  to  a  variety  of  causes,  one  of  which  was  the 
natural  advantage  in  situation  possessed  by  Baltimore,  which  owes  its 
later  development  to  influences  similar  to  those  that  had  built  up  the 
older  port. 

Settlements  increased  also  upon  the  borderland  between  Maryland 
and  Pennsylvania,  the  debatable  ground  of  Maryland  history.  About 
1741,  a  way  was  opened  between  the  settlement  on  the  Conewago, 
Hanover,  and  that  on  the  Patapsco,  Baltimore  Town.1  This  is  the 
road  shown  on  the  maps  as  "  Patapsco  Koad  "  and  probably  followed 
in  the  main  the  route  of  the  present  Hanover-Keisterstown-Baltimore 
road,  with  a  branch  road  running  to  Elkridge.  The  settlers  in 
York,  Pennsylvania,  also  saw  the  advantage  of  communication  with 
the  Chesapeake.  "  The  people,"  writes  James  Logan  from  Stenton 
to  Thomas  Penn,  in  August,  1743,  "  are  very  intent  on  ye  thing  and 
have  opened  a  road  to  Patapsco.  Some  trading  gentlemen  there  are 

1  Gibson  (Ed.).     History  of  York  Co.,  Pa.,  p.  514. 


132  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

desirous  of  opening  a  trade  to  York  and  ye  Country  adjacent,  The 
inhabitants  seem  willing  to  close  with  them;  and  ye  shortness  of  ye 
cut  not  being  above  45  miles;  from  Philadelphia,  they  are  about  90 
miles,  besides  ye  Ferriage  over  ye  Susquehanna." 

The  efforts  of  the  trading  gentlemen  apparently  met  with  suc- 
cess, for  "  as  long  ago  as  1751,  in  the  month  of  October,  no  less  than 
sixty  wagons  loaded  with  flaxseed,  came  down  to  Baltimore  from  the 
back  country."  Five  years  later,  sixty-one  overseers  were  appointed 
by  the  Justice,  each  for  one  section  of  the  road.3  The  resources  of 
the  interior  had  been  discovered,  highways  to  the  waterside  had  been 
begun,  and  the  development  of  Baltimore  was  assured. 

PACKHORSE  vs.  WAGON. 

The  beginning  of  the  westward  movement  was  accompanied  by  a 
gradual  change  from  packhorse  to  wagon  transportation.  This  change 
was  accomplished  against  strenuous  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  pack- 
horse  owners;  just  as  a  century  later  the  wagoners  themselves  used  in 
vain  every  effort  to  resist  the  extension  of  the  railroads.  A  resident 
of  Shearman  Valley,  Pa.,  who  died  in  1830,  "  aged  nearly  one  hundred 
years,  having  lived  a  long  life  there  among  the  Indians,  .  .  .  remem- 
bered seeing  the  first  wagon  arrive  at  Carlisle,  and  the  indignation  it 
excited  amongst  the  packers,  as  likely  to  ruin  their  trade! — even  the 
widening  of  the  roads  when  first  ordered,  offended  them!  " 

The  first  wagons,  constructed  at  a  period  prior  to  the  general  devel- 
opment of  iron-manufacture,  were,  it  is  said,  made  entirely  of  wood, 
the  wheels  being  "  sawed  from  trunks  of  the  gum  or  buttonwood 
tree."  Improved  vehicles  came  with  the  larger  production  of  iron, 
especially  after  the  Assembly  of  Maryland  had  extended  its  aid  to  the 
iron-industry. 

1  Gibson  (Ed.).     History  of  York  Co.,  Pa.,  p.  514. 
*  Morse,  J.     The  American  Geography,  p.  466. 

3  Balto.  Co.  Court  Proceedings,  1756,  508ff. 

4  Watson.     Annals  of  Philadelphia,  vol.  ii,  p.  122.     "  The  pack-horses  used 
to  carry  bars  of  iron  on  their  backs,  crooked  over  and  around  their  bodies — 
barrels  were  hung  on  them,  one  on  each  side." 

5  Schulz.     First  Settlement  of  Germans  in  Maryland,  p.  19. 


MARYLAND  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY  133 

THE  FRENCH  AND  INDIAN  WAR. 

In  the  year  1749  Col.  Thomas  Cresap  of  Maryland,  Lawrence  and 
Augustine  Washington  and  Thomas  Lee  of  Virginia,  John  Hanbury 
of  London,  merchant,  and  many  other  gentlemen  of  the  two  colonies 
and  mother-country,  obtained  a  charter  from  the  British  Government, 
under  the  name  of  The  Ohio  Company.1  Into  the  broader  history  of 
this  corporation  it  is  here  unnecessary  to  enter;  by  its  scheme,  how- 
ever, of  trading  with  the  far  west,  this  company  originated  an  idea 
which  later  was  realized  in  the  National  Road,  the  Chesapeake  and 
Ohio  Canal,  and  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad.  In  all  these 
enterprises  the  state  of  Maryland  was  particularly  interested;  hence 
an  inquiry  is  warranted  into  the  relations  of  the  Ohio  Company  and 
of  the  French  and  Indian  War  to  the  development  of  highways  in 
Maryland. 

EXPLORATION  OF  THE  OHIO  COUNTRY. 

In  1749  Christopher  Gist  was  employed  by  the  new  company  to 
explore  the  Ohio  country.  Leaving  Wills  Creek,  where  the  company 
next  year  built  a  stone  house,  on  October  31,  Gist  followed  an  old 
Indian  trail,  then  the  only  route  through  the  wilderness,  and  after  a 
wide  detour -to  the  west  and  southwest  returned  some  months  later.1 
Two  years  afterward  Thomas  Cresap,  who  had  settled  at  a  deserted 
Indian  village  known  as  the  Shawanese  Old  Town,  "  undertook  to 
lay  out  the  course  of  a  good  road  from  Wills  Creek  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Monongahela,  now  Pittsburg.  He  employed  as  his  assistant  a 
friendly  Indian,  named  ^sTemacolin." 

About  this  time  the  French  Governor  of  Canada  hastened  to  take 
every  precaution  to  keep  the  English  out  of  the  Ohio  country  and 
establish  the  French  there.4  So  open  and  energetic  were  the  move- 
ments of  the  French  that  the  Virginia  government  decided  upon  im- 
mediate opposition.  Accordingly,  in  1753,  George  Washington,  then 
barely  twenty-one  years  of  age,  was  ordered  to  proceed  to  the  fort 

1  Lowdermilk.     History  of  Cumberland,  p.  27. 

2  Lowdermilk,  pp.  27-8. 

3  Lowdermilk,  p.  29. 

4  Ibid.,  p.  40. 

9 


134  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

erected  by  the  French  upon  the  Ohio  river,  to  deliver  to  its  com- 
mander a  letter  from  the  Governor  of  Virginia,  and  incidentally  to 
gather  all  the  information  he  could  concerning  the  strength  of  the 
French  and  the  attitude  of  the  Indian  tribes.1  Upon  this,  his  first 
public  mission,  Washington  proceeded  to  Wills  Creek,  Maryland,  over 
what  five  years  before  was,  "  I  believe,  ye  worst  road  that  ever  was 
trod  by  man  or  beast,"  He  left  Wills  Creek,  in  company  with  Chris- 
topher Gist,  November  15,  1753,  and  returned  to  Williamsburg  on 
January  16,  1754,  with  a  letter  from  the  French  Commandant  to 
Governor  Dinwiddie.  The  Governor  and  Council  of  Virginia  then 
"  unanimously  concluded  that  immediate  steps  should  be  taken  to 
repel  the  invasion  of  the  French  by  force  of  arms." 


The  expedition  now  fitted  out  was  put  under  the  leadership  of  Col. 
Joshua  Fry,  with  Washington  second  in  command.  Since  Colonel 
Fry  was  killed  as  the  result  of  a  fall  from  his  horse  before  he  arrived 
at  Wills  Creek  the  entire  responsibility  fell  upon  Washington,  who  had 
gone  ahead  with  the  main  body  of  the  little  army.  From  Winchester 
to  Wills  Creek,  Washington  was  obliged  to  build  the  roads  as  he  went 
and  to  make  them  passable  for  his  horses  and  wagons;  and  he  was  bit- 
terly disappointed  upon  his  arrival  at  Wills  Creek  to  find  that  no  pro- 
vision had  been  made  for  transporting  the  ammunition  and  stores 
across  the  mountains.4  As  it  was  impossible  to  stay  where  he  was  he 
resolved  to  push  forward  to  the  storehouse  of  the  Ohio  Company  at 
Redstone  Creek  and  there  to  erect  fortifications  and  wait  for  reinforce- 
ments. Sixty  men  were  sent  ahead  to  make  a  road  along  the  route 
blazed  by  Nernacolin  and  Col.  Cresap,  three  years  before.  This  road 
was  afterwards  known  as  Braddock's  Road;  but  it  was  really  con- 
structed by  Washington  as  far  as  the  Great  Meadows,  and  "  was  the 
first  road  built  across  the  mountains." 

1  Lowdermilk,  p.  41. 

2  Washington's  Journal,  1748. 

3  Lowdermilk,  p.  45. 

4  Lowdermilk,  pp.  48-9. 

5  Lowdermilk,  p.  53.     Mr.  L.  ".  walked  over  several  miles  of  this  road,  start- 
ing at  Cumberland,  in  the  summer  of  1877,  and  clearly  traced  it  as  far  as 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  135 

Braddock's  Expedition. 

General  Braddock  arrived  in  Hampton  Roads  February  20,  175  5. * 
He  proceeded  to  Williamsburg  and  then  to  Alexandria,  where  he 
held  a  conference  with  certain  of  the  Colonial  Governors.2  The  year 
before,  Governor  Sharpe  of  Maryland  who,  before  General  Braddock's 
coming,  was  in  charge  of  the  military  operations  against  the  French, 
had  ordered  the  construction  of  a  new  road  from  Rock  Creek  to  Wills 
Creek.3  This  was  probably  the  road  chosen  for  the  regiment  under 
Colonel  Dunbar,  which  was  ordered  to  proceed  to  Frederick  in  Mary- 
land by  the  following  route: 

Miles. 

To  Eock  Creek   — 

To  Owen's  Ordinary   15 

To  Dowdens   15 

To  Frederick   15 

45  4 

However,  it  is  difficult  to  see  just  how  Dunbar  obeyed  the  direc- 
tion, "  Within  a  few  miles  of  the  Minocasy  across 'the  Minocasy  in  a 
Float." 

Another  regiment,  commanded  by  Sir  Peter  Halkett,  went  direct 
from  Alexandria  to  Winchester,  Va.,  following  this  course: 

the  Six  Mile  House,  on  the  National  Koad.  The  route  pursued  on  leaving 
Wills  Creek  was  along  the  valley  in  which  Green  St.  extended  now  lies,  the 
same  being  the  exact  course  of  the  old  National  Pike.  About  a  hundred 
yards  east  of  Mr.  Steele's  house,  and  just  where  the  Cresaptown  Road  now 
leads  off  southward,  the  road  which  Washington  followed  bore  slightly  to 
the  North,  and  ran  in  almost  a  perfectly  straight  line  to  nearly  the  top  of 
Wills  Mountain,  involving  a  very  heavy  grade  and  from  there  descended 
to  the  level  of  the  Old  Pike  at  Sandy  Gap.  In  many  respects  the  road  was 
admirably  chosen;  it  is  as  plain  to-day  as  it  was  a  hundred  years  ago  not- 
withstanding trees  of  more  than  a  foot  in  diameter  are  growing  thickly  in 
its  bed.  Having  been  used  for  sixty-five  years,  as  the  only  road  to  the  West, 
until  1818,  when  the  National  Pike  was  built,  it  became  well  worn  "  (p.  52). 

1  Lowdermilk,  p.  104. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  104-5. 

3  Maryland  Archives.     Correspondence   of   Governor  Sharpe,  vol.   i,   pp.   77 
and  97. 

4  Braddock's  Orderly  Book.     (Appendix  of  Lowdermilk,  pp.  18-19.) 


136  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

.  Miles. 

To  ye  old  Court  House 18 

To    Mr    Colemans    on    Sugar    Land    Run    where    there    is    Indian 

Corn,  &c 12 

To  Mr  Miners    15 

To  Mr  Thompson  ye  Quaker  wh  ye  is  3000  wt  corn 12 

To  Mr  They's  ye  Ferry  of  Shanh 17 

From  Mr  They's  to  Winchester 23 

97  ' 

April  21  the  General  arrived  in  Frederick,  Maryland,  where  he 
was  joined  by  Washington,  whom  he  had  appointed  his  aide-de-camp. 
Here  Braddock  discovered  that  he  needed  more  wagons,  and  Franklin 
undertook  to  supply  them.2 

"  On  the  30th  of  April  (1755)  Braddock  left  Fredericktown  with 
his  staff  and  a  body-guard  of  light  horse.  Before  leaving  Alex- 
andria he  had  purchased  of  Governor  Sharpe  a  chariot,  one  of  the 
cumbersome  carriages  of  that  day,  and  was  making  his  journey  with 
a  great  deal  of  style  which  would  have  been  better  suited  to  the 
cultivated  districts  of  England.  He  quickly  discovered  that  the  road 
was  ill-adapted  to  a  conveyance  of  that  character,  and  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  express  his  opinion  by  damning  it  heartily." 

The  route  followed  by  Col.  Dunbar's  regiment  was 

April.  Miles. 

29th.     From  Fredk  on  ye  road  to  Conogogee 17 

30th.     From  that  halting  place  to  Conogogee 18 

May. 

1st.     From  Conogogee  to  John  Evens 16 

2nd.     Rest. 

3rd.     To  the  Widow  Baringer 18 

4th.     To  George  Polls 9 

5*th.     To  Henry  Enock's   15 

6th.     Eest. 

7th.     To  Cox's  at  ye  mouth  of  little  Cacaph '12 

8th.     To  Col.  Cresaps  8 

9th.     To  Wills  Creek    16 

Total   129  * 

1  Braddock's  Orderly  Book.     (Appendix  of  Lowdermilk,  p.  23.) 

2  Governor   Morris    had    written    from    Philadelphia   to    Governor    Sharpe, 
"  there  is  a  very  good  wagon  'road  from  this  city  to  Watkins  Ferry  on  Po- 
tomack,"  probably  referring  to  the  "  Monocasy  Road  "  already  spoken  of. 
It  was  by  this  route  no  doubt  that  Franklin  sent  to  Braddock  the  needed 
wagons. 

3  Lowdermilk,  p.  114. 

4  Braddock's  Orderly  Book.     (Appendix  of  Lowdermilk,  p.  27.) 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  137 

From  Wills  Creek,  or  Fort  Cumberland,  the  army  followed  the 
road  made  by  Washington  in  the  campaign  of  1754  and  first  blazed 
by  Cresap  and  Nemacolin  in  1751;  but  through  the  "Narrows"  at 
Cumberland  Lieutenant  Spendelow  opened  a  new  road  along  the  east 
bank  of  Wills  Creek,  crossing  the  creek  just  above  the  mouth  of  Brad- 
dock  run  and  rejoining  the  old  road  five  miles  west  of  Cumberland. 
Along  this  new  road  part  of  the  army  marched. 

"  The  difficulties  of  the  march  soon  brought  the  General  to  appre- 
ciate the  apprehension  of  Washington;  the  steep  mountains,  rocky 
roads,  and  ugly  ravines  incident  to  this  new  country  were  all  beyond 
his  anticipations.  It  became  necessary  to  double  up  the  teams  in 
order  to  pull  the  wagons  up  the  rough  grades ;  in  some  instances  even 
this  was  impracticable,  the  seamen  being  obliged  to  draw  them  up  by 
means  of  ropes  and  pulleys.  'Not  more  than  three  or  four  miles  a  day 
could  be  made  and  in  order  to  avoid  a  further  delay,  where  already 
weeks  of  precious  time  had  been  lost,  Braddock  eventually  yielded  to 
Washington's  advice  and  sent  back  many  of  his  wagons,  taking  the 
animals  for  packhorses,  and  transporting  his  stores  in  the  only  prac- 
ticable manner." 

ROAD  FROM  FORT  FREDERICK  TO  FORT  CUMBERLAND. 

After  the  erection  of  Fort  Frederick  had  begun  in  1756,  the  neces- 
sity of  a  short  route  from  Fort  Frederick  to  Fort  Cumberland  soon 
became  apparent.  Governor  Sharpe  favored  it,2  and  upon  the  failure 
of  the  army  to  perform  the  work,  he  brought  the  necessity  of  con- 
structing this  work  before  the  Assembly.  In  December,  1758,  after 
the  capture  of  Fort  Du  Quesne,  a  committee  was  ordered  to  inquire 
the  cost  of  connecting  Fort  Frederick  and  Fort  Cumberland  by  a 
wagon-road  and  their  report  was  as  follows: 

"  Your  committee 3  have  made  an  Enquiry  into  the  situation  of  the  present 
wagonroad  from  Fort  Frederick  to  Fort  Cumberland,  and  are  of  the  opin- 
ion that  the  distance  by  that  Road,  from  one  Fort  to  the  other  is  at  least 
Eig'hty  miles,  and  find  that  the  wagons  which  go  from  one  Fort  to  the 
other  are  obliged  to  pass  the  Potowmac  River  twice,  and  that  for  one  third 
of  the  year  they  can't  pass  without  boats  to  set  them  over  the  river. 

1  Lowdermilk,  pp.  138-9. 

2  Maryland  Archives.     Correspondence  of  Governor  Sharpe;  vol.  ii,  p.  206. 

3  Assembly  Proceedings,  Dec.  15,  1758,  p.  74. 


138  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

"  Your  committee  1  have  also  made  an  Enquiry  into  the  condition  of  the 
Ground  where  a  road  may  most  conveniently  be  made  to  go  altogether  upon 
the  North  Side  of  the  Potowmack,  which  will  not  exceed  the  distance  of 
Sixty-two  miles  at  the  expense  of  250  Ibs.  current  money  as  may  appear 
from  the  following1  Estimate,  viz.: 

"  An  Estimate  of  the  Expense  of  clearing  Road  from  Fort  Frederick  to 
Fort  Cumberland,  and  the  Several  Different  Stages: 

For  clearing  from  £  s.  d. 

Fort  Frederick  to  Licking  Creek,  3y2  miles 0  0  0 

Licking  Creek  to  Praker's  Creek,  8%  miles 12  0  0 

Praker's  to  Sideling  Hill  Creek,  12  miles 16  0  0 

For  a  bridge  over  Sideling  Hill  Creek 60  0  0 

Sideling  Hill  Creek  to  Fifteen  Mile  Creek,  4  miles. . .   22  0  0 

Fifteen  Mile  Creek  to  Town  Creek,  15  miles 140  0  0 

Town  Creek  to  Col.  Cresaps,  a  good  road,  4  miles..  .0  0  0 
Col.  Cresaps  to  Fort  Cumberland,  wants  clearing,  15 

miles    0  0  0 


250  0  0 

"  Your  committee  are  of  the  opinion  that  a  road  through  Maryland  will 
contribute  much  to  lessen  the  expense  of  carrying  Provisions  and  warlike 
stores  from  Fort  Frederick  to  Fort  Cumberland,  and  will  induce  many 
people  to  travel  and  carry  on  a  trade  in  and  through  the  Province,  to  and 
from  the  back  country." 

Governor  Sharpe  and  the  Assembly  for  some  time  disagreed  con- 
cerning this  and  other  appropriations,  but  the  new  road  was  finally 
authorized.  More  significant  than  its  timely  construction,  however, 
is  the  fact  that  the  utility,  and  indeed,  the  necessity  of  an  easy  com- 
munication between  the  Ohio  country  and  the  East  was  popularly  un- 
derstood even  at  that  early  date.  The  cardinal  importance  of  this 
idea,  though  forgotten  by  many,  was  ever  present  to  Washington,  and 
to  him,  perhaps  more  than  to  any  one  else,  was  due  the  ultimate  attain- 
ment of  a  great  highway  across  the  Alleghanies. 


INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENT  AND  LATER  HIGHWAY 
LEGISLATION. 

In  Maryland  the  period  intervening  between  the  Erench  and  In- 
dian War  and  the  Revolution  was  a  time  of  intense  political  excite- 
ment. The  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act  called  forth  many  champions 

1  Assembly  Proceedings,  Dec.  15,  1758,  p.  74. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  139 

of  the  colonial  rights,  among  whom  was  the  younger  Dulany,  whose 
"  Considerations  on  the  Propriety  of  Taxing  America  "  was  often 
quoted  by  the  elder  Pitt  in  his  speeches  in  defense  of  the  colonies.1 
Hardly  had  this  excitement  been  allayed  by  the  repeal  of  the  ob- 
noxious legislation  when  local,  but  no  less  bitter,  controversies  arose 
to  absorb  the  public  interest  until  differences  at  home  were  at  last 
merged  in  the  greater  issues  of  the  Revolution. 

Under  these  circumstances  it  is  remarkable  that  time  was  found  to 
initiate  a  policy  of  internal  improvement  which  was  interrupted, 
indeed,  by  the  Revolution,  but  which  afterwards  was  steadily  pur- 
sued until  the  development  of  the  steam  railroad. 

CANAL  SCHEMES. 

The  pre-r evolutionary  period  was  productive  of  ideas  rather  than  of 
accomplishments.  The  project  of  extending  commercial  intercourse 
by  artificial  waterways  was  not  a  novel  one.  A  canal  to  cross  the 
Eastern  Shore  peninsula  had  been  proposed  in  the  days  of  Augustine 
Herrman,  but  after  his  death  the  scheme  seems  to  have  been  aban- 
doned. Canal  schemes  were  revived,  however,  in  the  decade  pre- 
ceding the  Revolution.  In  1768,  Sir  Henry  Moore  planned  a  canal 
for  the  Mohawk  Valley  in  New  York;  the  next  year  Richard  Henry 
Lee  laid  before  the  Assembly  of  Virginia  a  similar  proposition  in 
regard  to  the  Potomac,2  and  a  year  later  investigations  were  made 
under  the  authority  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society  with  a 
view  to  opening  water-communication  between  the  bays  of  Chesa- 
peake and  Delaware.* 

• 

1  Tyler.     The  Literary  History  of  the  American  Revolution,  vol.  i,  pp.  lllff. 

2  Chevalier.     Histoire    et    Description    des    Voies    de    Communication    aux 
Etats  Unis,  vol.  i,  p.  131.     Paris,  1840.     The  idea  of  improving  the  naviga- 
tion of  the  Potomac  had  originated  with  George  Washington  as  a  result  of 
the   acquaintance   with   the   character   and   resources   of   the    Ohio   country 
which  he  had  gained  during  the  French  and  Indian  War.     After  the  Revolu- 
tion the  matter  was  again  urged  by  Washington,  and  the  "  Potomac  Com- 
pany "  formed — an  event  of  great  significance  for  the  future   national  de- 
velopment.    (Acts  of  Assembly,  1784,  chap,  xxxii.) 

Almost  contemporaneous  was  the  incorporation  of  the  Susquehanna  Com- 
pany for  the  purpose  of  making  that  river  navigable.  (1783,  chap,  xxix.) 

3  Trans.,  o.  s.,  vol.  i,  Philadelphia,  1770. 


140  HIGHWAY  LEGISLATION  IN  MARYLAND 

HIGHWAY  LEGISLATION. 

It  was,  however,  to  highway  rather  than  to  canal  improvement  that 
the  Assembly  of  Maryland  directed  their  attention.  Hitherto  the 
legislation  regarding  highways  had  been  comprehended  in  two  or  three 
fundamental  laws  variously  amended  and  supplemented,  but  from 
1765  on,  one  is  confronted  with  a  continuous  increase  in  the  number 
of  road-laws  mainly  due  to  the  growth  of  population;  the  divergence  in 
the  needs  of  different  sections  of  the  state,  making  uniformity  no 
longer  practicable;  and  the  demand  for  improved  and  shortened  roads. 
To  present  in  detail  all  the  laws  enacted  as  a  result  of  these  influ- 
ences is  neither  necessary  nor  profitable,  and  surely  not  interesting. 
In  the  complexity  of  subsequent  legislation,  however,  it  is  possible 
to  distinguish  certain  general  ideas  or  principles  in  accordance  with 
which  a  classification  such  as  the  following  may  be  adopted: 

1.  Laws  regarding  single  roads. 

2.  Laws  regarding  groups  of  roads. 

3.  Legislation  for  separate  counties, 

4.  General  legislation  for  the  state. 

5.  The  development  of  the  turnpike  system. 

6.  Legislation  for  the  National  Eoad. 

The  first  four  divisions  relate  especially  to  legislation  near  the  close 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  while  the  fifth  and  sixth  are  more  closely 
associated  with  the  development  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  cen- 
tury. The  latter  will  be  discussed  at  somewhat  greater  length. 

LAWS    REGARDING    SINGLE    ROADS. 

The  laws  concerning  single  roads  began  with  the  passage  in  1765 
of  an  act1  to  establish  a  road  from  Hunting  Creek  in  Dorchester 
county  to  Dover  in  Talbot  county;  in  1774  followed  an  act 2  requiring 
the  justices  of  Somerset  county  to  appoint  persons  to  lay  out  a  road 
from  the  Free  School  in  Somerset  county  through  the  forest  to  Den- 
ston's  Dams,  there  to  intersect  the  main  road  leading  from  Princess 
Anne  to  Snow  Hill. 

1  Chap.  xv.  2  Chap  xxv 

Unless  otherwise  indicated  references  are  to  Acts  of  Assembly. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  141 

After  the  Revolution,  the  number  of  laws  of  this  sort  steadily  in- 
creased; it  is  possible,  nevertheless,  to  distinguish  some  differences  in 
kind  which  may  be  best  illustrated  by  a  few  examples. 

The  first  includes  laws  for  roads  which  at  the  present  day  would  be 
considered  private  roads.  Six  acts  of  the  year  1783  exhibit  this 
peculiarity.  These  provide  for  a  road  from  the  windmill  and  dwell- 
ing of  Nathaniel  Manning,  of  Dorchester  county; 1  a  road  from  John 
Goff's  Mill  in  Frederick  county; 2  a  road  from  Dr.  Ephraim  Howard's 
tilting-forge  at  Elkridge; 3  the  fourth  a  road  from  William  Mat- 
thew's Mill  in  Baltimore  county; 4  in  these  four  cases  to  the  nearest 
main  road;  a  public  road  in  Baltimore  county,  to  form  a  cross-connec- 
tion between  two  main  roads; 5  and  another  mill-road  in  Dorchester 
county."  For  each  of  these  a  separate  law  was  enacted. 

Page  after  page  of  the  statute-books  is  filled  with  these  laws  con- 
cerning roads  to  mills,  plantations,  churches,  iron-works,  forges,  and 
many  other  places  of  a  special  or  individual  character.  In  cases  where 
the  new  roads  were  especially  advantageous  to  individuals  those  so 
benefited  were  usually  made  responsible  for  their  preservation  and 
repair. 

Another  class  of  laws  relates  to  the  construction  of  more  important 
roads.  These  sometimes  connected  a  town  with  some  previously  exist- 
ing highway.  In  1782,  for  example,  the  construction  of  a  main  road 
was  authorized  "  from  Elizabethtown  [Hagerstown] ,  in  Washington 
County,  through  Charlton's  Gap  in  the  South  Mountain,  on  a  strait 
line,  till  it  intersects  the  road  leading  from  Frederick-town  to.  York- 
town  in  Pennsylvania,"  which  "  would  facilitate  the  carriage  of  pro- 
duce "  from  the  western  country  to  Baltimore,  "  by  which  means 
the  subjects  of  this  State  would  be  better  enabled  to  pay  their  taxes, 
and  would  increase  the  trade  of  the  State  in  general." 

Other  roads  connected  a  town  with  a  watercourse.  Such  a  road 
was  the  highway  from  the  town  of  Talbot  in  Talbot  county  to  Cow 
Landing,  on  Third  Haven  Creek,  for  which  provision  wras  made  in 
1787.8 

1  1783,   chap.  v.          2  Chap.  vi.          3  Chap.   xv.          *  Chap.   xi.     Nov.   Session. 

5  Chap,  xii,  Nov.  Session.  6  Chap,  xiv,  Nov.  Session. 

7  Chap.  xli.     April  Session.  8  Chap.  xxiv.     December  Session. 


142  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

Still  others  joined  one  town  with  another.  In  1796  a  committee 
of  gentlemen  from  Prince  George's  and  Queen  Anne's  counties  and 
Annapolis  was  appointed  to  examine  the  country  between  Washing- 
ton and  Annapolis  and  to  ascertain  the  best  route  for  a  road  to  con- 
nect the  two  cities.1  The  next  year,  1797,  other  commissioners  were 
authorized  to  lay  out  the  road  as  reported,  at  the  expense  of  the  two 
counties.2 

In  a  third  group  may  be  classed  laws  establishing  or  recognizing 
as  public  highways  roads  previously  existing.  In  1792,  the  road 
"  from  time  immemorial "  leading  from  Baltimore  to  Frederick  by 
Dillon's  Fields,  Ellicott's  Upper  Mills,  Cumming's  new  buildings, 
Fox's  the  Red  Horse  Tavern,  Cook's  Tavern,  and  Poplar  Spring,  was 
definitely  established  as  a  public  road.3 

To  a  fourth  class  may  be  assigned  a  few  laws  regarding  two  roads 
that  marked  the  boundary  line  between  two  adjoining  counties.  In 
1792  2  certain  commissioners,  three  from  Dorchester  county  and  two 
from  Caroline  county,  were  appointed  to  open  a  main  road  and  change 
the  old  road,  formerly  the  divisional  line  of  the  two  counties,  the  new 
roatl  to  serve  the  same  end.  In  1801  certain  4  similar  changes  were 
made  in  the  divisional  road  between  Somerset  and  Worcester  counties. 

In  a  fifth  class  may  be  included  those  laws  which  refer  to  roads 
constructed  at  a  later  date  to  serve  as  cross-connections  between  lines 
of  turnpike  roads.  Such  a  road  was  authorized  by  an  act  of  1799  5 
to  run  from  Widow  Mortar's  tavern  on  Hanover  turnpike  by  George 
Kerlinger's  mill  and  Hoofman's  grist  and  paper-mill  to  Benedict 
Hunt's  tavern  on  the  York  turnpike. 

Laws  relating  to  roads  of  a  chiefly  historical  interest  may  form  a 
sixth  class.  Such  was  the  old  Monocacy  road,  which  is  the  subject 
of  one  act  of  1789.°  The  same  provision  was  made  for  the  repair  of 
the  road  from  Port  Tobacco  to  Leonardtown,  one  of  the  oldest  roads 
in  the  state.' 

Finally,  in  a  seventh  class,  may  be  mentioned  the  post-roads,  par- 
ticularly the  main  road  between  the  North  and  the  South,  which 
required  not  a  little  legislation.  In  1787  commissioners  were  ap- 

1  Chap.   xci.         2  Chap.   xxxv.         3  Chap.   xix.         *  Chap.  vi.         5  Chap.   liv. 
6  Chap.  vii.     December  Session.  7  Chap.  xii. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  143 

pointed  to  open  and  amend  the  post-road  from  Havre  de  Grace  to  Bal- 
timore-town, and  to  erect  a.  toll-bridge,  for  which  they  might  pay  by 
collecting  money  by  private  subscriptions,  or  by  a  lottery,  or  by-  pledg- 
ing the  tolls  to  be  collected.1  That  this  legislation  was  not  as  suc- 
cessful as  might  have  been  hoped  will  appear  hereafter. 

Very  similar  to  the  legislation  for  single  roads  and,  therefore, 
appropriately  included  under  the  present  heading,  is  that  concerning 
bridges.  These  laws,  of  which  it  is  unnecessary  to  give  specific  exam- 
ples, made  provisions  for  bridges  of  varying  kinds  and  importance. 
Some  acts  order  the  erection  and  repair  of  necessary  bridges  by  the 
counties  in  which  they  are  situated ;  others  confer  charters  for  bridges 
upon  private  persons  or  upon  corporations. 

The  constant  interference  of  the  General  Assembly  in  these  pri- 
vate and  often  unimportant  cases  is  to  be  explained  by  the  limited 
powers  of  the  County  Courts.  As  the  counties,  one  by  one,  obtained 
separate  laws,  the  powers  of  their  courts  were  greatly  increased,  and 
the  burden  of  the  legislature  correspondingly  lightened.  This  sub- 
ject will  be  more  appropriately  treated  under  a  later  head. 

LEGISLATION    FOR    GROUPS   OF    ROADS. 

The  first  movement  towards  the  improvement  of  the  material  and 
bed  of  the  roads  in  Maryland  was  expressed  by  legislative  provision 
for  the  construction  or  repair  of  groups  of  important  market  roads. 

In  1Y74,  "  an  improvement  of  the  principal  Market  Eoads  in  the 
Counties  of  Anne  Arundel,  Baltimore,  and  Frederick,"  would,  it  was 
thought,  "  render  the  Intercourse  and  Carriage  between  the  Parts  of 
the  Province  distant  from  Navigation,  and  the  Places  from  whence 
the  produce  of  those  parts  were  and  might  be  most  conveniently  ex- 
ported, much  easier  and  cheaper,  whereby  Trade  would  be  increased 
and  the  Settlement,  Cultivation  and  Improvement  of  Lands  would  be 
encouraged  and  promoted."  Part  of  the  bills  of  credit  to  be  issued 
in  pursuance  of  a  previous  act  was  therefore  appropriated  for  a  loan 
to  the  inhabitants  of  Anne  Arundel,  Baltimore  and  Frederick  coun- 

1  Chap.  xxix.  Slight  changes  were  made  by  acts  of  1791,  chap,  xxxi,  and 
1796,  chap.  Iviii;  and  the  act  of  1800,  chap.  Ix,  altered  the  course  of  the  road 
between  Bladensburg  and  Washington. 


144  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

ties,  in  sums  not  exceeding  $2,000,  $10,666.66,  and  $8,000  for  these 
counties,  respectively,  "  towards  opening,  straightening,  widening, 
repairing  and  putting  in  order  the  following  roads,  viz. : 

"  The  road  leading  from  the  mouth  of  Conococheague  Creek  to  Frederick 
Town,  crossing-  the  South  Mountain  at  the  Gap  commonly  called  Turner's 
Gap,  the  road  from  Hagerstown  to  intersect  the  said  road  at  or  near  the 
Western  Side  of  the  South  Mountain. 

"  The  road  from  Frederick-Town  leading  by  Dowdens  to  George-Town. 

"  A  road  from  the  mouth  of  Watts  Branch  to  George-Town  aforesaid. 

"  The  road  from  Frederick-Town  leading  over  Eues  Ford  on  Monocasy  and 
crossing  Patuxent  Kiver  at  Green's  Bridge  to  Annapolis. 

"  The  road  from  Frederick-Town  leading  over  the  said  Ford  over  Mo- 
nocasy, and  crossing  Patapsco  at  or  near  Hoods  Mills  to  Baltimore-Town. 

"  A  road  leading  from  the  Catoctin  Mountain  through  the  Pipe  Creek  Set- 
tlement by  Eoysters  (Reisters-town)  to  Baltimore-Town  aforesaid. 

"  The  road  from  Eoysters  to  Hanover  as  far  as  the  Province  Line. 

"  These  roads  are  divided  into  eleven  districts,  for  each  of  which  three  su- 
pervisors are  appointed  and  the  maximum  amount  thereon  to  be  expended 
definitely  fixed.  The  supervisors  are  to  employ  laborers  or  to  contract  with 
others  to  do  the  work,  and  draw  their  orders  on  the  Commissioners  for 
emitting  Bills  of  Credit,  for  the  money  to  be  expended. 

For  the  repayment  of  the  Bills  of  Credit,  the  Sheriffs  of  the  respective 
Counties  are  to  collect  per  annum — 

In  Anne  Arundel 4  Ibs.  of  tobacco 

In  Baltimore  12  Ibs. 

In  Frederick   8  Ibs. 

from  each  taxable  inhabitant,  and  are  to  sell  the  same  in  August  of  each 
year  in  open  court. 

The  supervisors  are  to  have  the  roads  well  cleared,  grubbed  and  stoned, 
40  feet  wide — except  the  road  leading  to  Annapolis,  which  is  to  be  30  feet 
wide — and  cause  all  necessary  bridges  and  causeways  to  be  made,  and 
trenches  and  ditches  to  be  cut  for  draining  off  the  water.  The  roads  when 
completed  are  to  be  public  roads." 

A  peculiar  provision  is  that  "  in  the  middle  of  the  Watts  Branch — George- 
Town  road,  until  it  intersects  the  Frederick-George-Town  road,  large  posts 
shall  be  well  set  up  in  sight  of  and  not  exceeding  100  yards  distance  from 
each  other.  When  this  road  is  finished,  no  wagon  or  carriage  of  burthen 
with  wheels  of  a  less  tread  than  5  inches,  shall  pass  upon  the  part  of  this 
road  that  lies  to  the  North  of  the  posts  erected,  under  a  penalty  of  20s.  cur- 
rent money. 

The  supervisors  are  empowered  to  call  for  a  jury  of  condemnation  to 
assess  the  value  and  damages  of  improved  land  through  which,  in  their  esti- 
mation, it  is  necessary  for  the  road  to  pass."  * 

A  law  of  1787  2  provided  that  several  turnpike  roads  should  be  laid 
out  in  Baltimore  county.     One  of  these  was  to  go  toward  Frederick 

1 1774,  chap.  xxi.  2  Chap,  xxiii. 


MARYLAND  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY. 


VOLUME   III,   PLATE  XIII. 


FIG.  l.-BREAKING    STONE    BY    HAND,    WASHINGTON   COUNTY. 


The  KrietJenwald  Co. 

Kio.  2.-HAULING   WITH     TWO-WHEEL   OX-CARTS,    PORT   TOBACCO,    CHARLES   COUNTY. 


SURVIVALS  OF  EARLY  ROAD-METHODS. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  145 

Town;  one  to  Beisterstown,  branching  there  in  one  direction  to  Win- 
chester Town  [Westminster  ?],  and  in  another  to  Hanover,  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  a  third  road  was  to  go  to  York.  For  some  time,  however, 
little  progress  was  made  on  these  roads  and,  as  they  were  really  turn- 
pike roads,  a  detailed  treatment  of  them  may  be  left  to  a  later  section. 
In  1790  some  of  the  principal  market  and  post-roads  in  Cecil,  Bal- 
timore, Montgomery,  Frederick  and  Washington  counties  were 
thought  to  be  "  very  indirect,  much  out  of  repair/7  and  to  require 
considerable  improvement.  Therefore,  an  act '  was  passed  to  im- 
prove the  following  roads : 

(1)  From  Susquehanna  Lower  Ferry  to  the  Ford  at  the  Furnace,  thence 
to  Charlestown,  thence  to  the  bridge  at  the  head  of  North  East,  and  thence 
through  Elk-town  towards  Christiana  to  the  Delaware  line  [the  Post  Road]. 

(2)  From  the  head  of  Elk  to  Eock  Creek,  to  head  of  Bohemia,  to  War- 
wick, to  head  of  Sassafras. 

(3)  From  Baltimore  Town,  westward  of  Randallstown  through  the  "  bar- 
rens "  of  Baltimore  County  towards  Liberty-Town  as  far  as  the  Frederick 
County  Line,  thence  to  Frederick,  crossing  the  Monocacy  at  the  Ferry  next 
above  the  mouth  of  Israel's  Creek. 

(4)  From  the  end  of  Patrick  Street,  Frederick,  crossing  the  Washington 
County  Line  by  Peter  Bainbridge's,  £o  Elizabeth-Town  [Hagerstown]. 

(5)  From  Middletown  to  Williams-port,  by  way  of  Turner's  Gap. 

(6)  From  Williams-port  to  Elizabeth-Town. 

(7)  From  Elizabeth-Town  through  Charlton's  Gap  in  the  South  Mountain, 
to  Liberty-Town,  nearly  intersecting  the  road  from  Baltimore. 

(8)  From  Elizabeth-Town  to  Hancock-Town. 

(9)  From  Frederick  over  Rice's  Ford  on  Monocacy  by  Hobbs,  through  Bal- 
timore County  to  the  line  of  Anne  Arundel,  to  meet  the  turnpike  to  Fred- 
erick provided  for  by  the  law  of  1787.2 

(10)  From  Frederick  to  Harper's  Ferry. 

(11)  From  Frederick  to  Georgetown. 

(12)  From  Georgetown  to  the  mouth  of  Monocacy,  thence  to  the  Court 
House  of  the  said  County. 

(13)  From  Elizabeth-town  to  the  Pennsylvania  Line,  in  Nicholson's  Gap. 
To   cover  the  expense  the  Justices  of  Cecil,  Frederick,   and  Washington 

Counties,  were  to  levy  not  more  than  3s.  9d.  on  every   £100  of  assessable 
property,  and  the  Justices  of  Montgomery  County,  not  more  than  2s.8 

The  next  year,  1791,  witnessed  the  enactment  of  several  "  group  " 
laws,  of  which  the  most  important  was  that  "  to  strengthen  and  amend 

1  Chap,  xxxii.  2  Chap,  xxiii. 

8  See  laws  of  1791,  chap.  Ixxxii;  1793,  chap,  xl;  1795,  chap,  xxviii;  1797,  chap, 
xxix;  1798,  chaps,  xxxii,  xlix;  1799,  chap,  xxxii;  1800,  chap,  xxii,  all  of  which 
in  some  way  modify  this  act. 


146  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

the  public  roads  in  Harford  county,  and  for  other  purposes. "     This 
act  provided  for  the  roads  specified  as  follows: 

(1)  From  the   Pennsylvania  Line   at   the    intersection    of    the    road    from 
Peach  Bottom  Ferry  over  the  Susquehanna,  to  Thomas  Underbill's  mill  on 
Deer  Creek. 

(2)  From  Bald  Friars  Ferry  to  Belle  Air,  thence  towards   Baltimore,   to 
the  Baltimore  County  Line  at  the  Little  Falls  of  Gunpowder. 

(3)  From  Belle  Air  to  Lower  X  Roads,  thence  to  Smith's  Ferry  on  the  Sus- 
quehanna.1 

In  1793  five  commissioners  were  appointed  to  lay  out  several  roads 
from  Denton,  the  seat  of  justice  of  Caroline  county,  to  different  parts 
of  that  county/  to  be  added,  when  completed,  to  the  public  roads. 

These  "  group  "  laws  seem  to  mark  a  transitional  stage  in  the  high- 
way legislation  of  the  state.  As  they  anticipated  the  turnpike  laws 
in  requiring  improvement  of  the  road-beds,  so  they  were  in  some  cases 
closely  allied  to  county  laws.  The  two  laws  last  cited  exhibit  this 
characteristic.  In  these  cases  the  Legislature  seems  to  have  wished 
to  give  to  the  county  a  start  by  the  construction  of  the  more  important 
roads,  leaving  the  future  care  of  them  to  the  county.  But  with  the 
establishment  of  complete  county  road-laws  and  the  development  of 
the  turnpikes,  the  necessity  for  this  class  of  legislation  appears  to  have 
passed  away,  and  few  examples  of  "  group  "  laws  of  any  importance 
are  to  be  found. 

LEGISLATION  FOR  SEPARATE   COUNTIES 

After  the  French  and  Indian  War,  the  rapidity  with  which  the 
settlements  increased  in  northern  Maryland  soon  made  that  section 
one  of  the  most  prosperous  in  the  Province.  As  was  indicated  in  the 
preceding  division,  the  "  principal  market  roads,"  for  which  special 
provision  was  first  made  by  a  "  group  "  law,  lay,  to  a  large  extent,  in 
Baltimore  county.  So,  eight  years  before,  the  need  of  an  improve- 
ment of  local  transportation  in  Baltimore  county  led  to  the  passage  of 
the  first  county  law. 

1  Chap.  Ixx.  Other  "  group  "  laws  passed  in  1791  were,  chap,  xxx  for  cer- 
tain mill  roads  in  Baltimore  county;  chap,  liii  for  certain  roads  in  Anne 
Arundel  county. 

2 1793,  chap.  Hv. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  147 

In  1766  1  the  inadequacy  of  the  laws  for  the  maintenance  of  high- 
ways in  Baltimore  county  was  recognized,  and  the  justices  were  au- 
thorized to  appoint  as  many  overseers  as  they  thought  necessary,  and 
these  were  empowered  to  hire  a  sufficient  number  of  laborers  for  the 
repair  of  the  roads.  To  cover  the  expense  a  tax  of  10  Ibs.  of  tobacco 
per  poll  was  laid  upon  all  the  taxable  inhabitants  of  the  county,  be- 
sides the  sheriff's  salary  of  6  per  cent  for  collection. 

The  overseers  were  to  receive  6  Ibs.  of  tobacco  per  day  and  render 
accounts  to  the  justices.  Carts  or  wagons  loaded  with  iron  ore  should 
not  pass  within  five  miles  of  the  iron-works  to  which  they  belonged, 
except  when  starting  upon  or  returning  from  a  longer  journey,  unless 
the  felloes  of  their  wheels  were  five  inches  broad  at  the  least.  No 
new  gates  were  to  be  erected  on  or  over  any  public  road  where  then 
there  were  none. 

This  act,  it  will  be  observed,  substitutes  in  Baltimore  county  the 
employment  of  hired  labor  paid  for  by  a  fixed  tax  for  the  compulsory 
attendance  required  by  the  earlier  general  law.  It  is  notable,  also,  as 
the  beginning  of  separate  legislation  for  the  different  counties;  since 
its  enactment  a  permanent  general  system  has  not  prevailed. 

The  counties  of  Anne  Arundel  and  Frederick  were  provided  with 
separate  laws  by  one  section  of  the  act  of  1774  2  mentioned  above.  The 
overseers  and  taxables  in  these  counties  were  made  chargeable  to 
labor  upon  the  highways,  generally  for  not  more  than  six  months  in 
each  year.  It  was  made  permissible,  however,  for  any  one  personally 
chargeable,  or  responsible  for  others,  to  employ  substitutes,  and  such 
substitution  was  made  imperative  in  the  case  of  ff  every  female  negro 
for  whom  he  [the  master]  shall  be  chargeable."  It  is  curious  that 
special  provision  was  made  for  eight-hour  labor. 

When,  after  the  Revolution,  the  state  returned  with  vigor  to  the 
development  of  its  natural  resources,  the  necessity  for  the  improve- 
ment of  local  communication  became  urgent.  Consequently  the  ten- 
dency to  separate  legislation  heralded  by  the  acts  to  which  reference 
has  been  made  becomes  more  and  more  apparent.  In  179 13  the  Jus- 

1  Chap,  xxxii.     An  Act  for  Amending  and  Repairing  the  Public  Roads  in 
Baltimore  County. 

2  1774,  chap.  xxi.  3  Chap.  Ixvi. 


148  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

tices  of  Cecil  county  were  empowered  to  "  streighten  and  amend  "  the 
public  roads,  to  appoint  commissioners  to  inspect  them,  and  to  levy  not 
more  than  2s.  6d.  current  money  for  the  first  year,  and  not  more  than 
Is.  6d.  for  succeeding  years,  on  every  £100  of  assessable  property  in 
the  county.  They  were  to  pay  the  proceeds  thereof  to  the  commis- 
sioners, who  should,  within  four  months,  lay  out,  etc.,  the  roads  for 
which  they  were  appointed,  and  return  plats  of  the  same,  receiving  for 
their  service  a  reasonable  compensation. 

The  Court  is  to  agree  for  necessary  land  at  a  rate  not  exceeding  £3  per 
acre;  if  such  agreement  is  impossible,  there  shall  be  issued  a  warrant  to 
the  sheriff  to  summon  a  jury  of  condemnation,  of  12  freeholders.  The  Com- 
missioners are  given  power  to  appropriate  funds,  and  if  expedient,  to  accept 
the  substitution  of  labor  for  the  payment  of  the  tax.  The  Justices  are  em- 
powered to  appoint  one  or  more  supervisors  to  superintend,  direct  and  con- 
tract for  the  making  of  the  roads.  Every  supervisor  has  to  bond  for  at 
least  double  the  amount  for  which  he  is  responsible,  and  is  to  render  an 
account  to  the  Justices  yearly,  receiving  9s.  6d.  per  diem  of  actual  em- 
ployment. 

The  Commissioners  are  given  power  to  contract  in  writing  with  any  per- 
son or  persons  for  the  necessary  bridge  or  road-building.  The  provisions 
of  the  "  group  "  law  of  1790  *  are  repealed  so  far  as  they  relate  to  Cecil 
county. 

The  complications  of  this  method  of  highway  administration  may 
account  for  its  modification  two  years  later.  In  179 32  the  annual 
tax  for  Cecil  county  was  raised  to  3s.  9d.  on  every  £100,  the  commis- 
sioners were  dispensed  with,  and  their  powers  were  transferred  to  the 
supervisors  appointed  by  the  court.  Meanwhile  similar  laws  were 
enacted  for  Harford  8  and  Queen  Anne's  counties. 

Attempts  at  Uniformity. 

The  next  year,  1794,  witnessed  an  important  attempt  to  satisfy  the 
various  wants  of  the  counties  in  one  law  by  prescribing  uniform 
methods  of  administration,  with  different  rates  of  taxation.4 

The  existing  laws  regarding  road  management  were  characterized 
as  "  inadequate,  partial  and  unjust,"  and  the  Justices  of  Peace  in  the 
respective  counties  were  authorized  to  levy  on  each  £100  of  property, 
as  follows : 

1  Chap,  xxxii.  2  Chap.  Ixxiii. 

8 1791,  chap.  Ixx;  1793,  chap.  Ixv.  *  1794,  chap.  lii. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  149 

In  Baltimore  county,  not  more  than    Is.  3d.   annually. 

"  Talbot             "  "               3  s.  6  d.  " 

"Somerset        "  «               1  s.  6  d.  " 

"  Cecil1               "  "               3s.  " 

"  Prince  George's  county         "               3s.  9  d.  " 

"  Queen  Anne's         "  "               3s.  " 

"Frederick                 "  "               3s.  9  d.  " 

"  Harford                    "  "                 3s.  9  d.  " 

"Caroline                   "  "                2s.  6  d.  " 

"Montgomery           "  "               2s.  6  d.  " 

"  Allegany                  "  "               3s.  9  d.  " 

"Kent                          "  "               2s.  6  d.  " 

The  Justices  may  permit  the  substitution  of  labor  at  the  regular  rate  for 
payment  of  the  tax.  They  shall  make  out  lists  of  taxables  in  each  hundred 
of  the  county,  and  shall  furnish  the  Collector  with  copies  thereof. 

Upon  the  application  of  two-thirds  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  hundred 
through  which  any  road  passes,  the  Justices  shall  appoint  as  Commission- 
ers three  disinterested  persons,  to  alter  or  straighten  the  roads  not  more 
than  40  feet  wide  clear  of  ditches.  In  case  of  disagreement  as  to  the  value 
the  Sheriff  shall  by  warrant  summon  the  usual  jury  of  12  men  to  assess 
damages.  The  Justices  shall  appoint  supervisors  who  shall  give  bond  for 
the  performance  of  their  duties.  The  laws  of  1704  and  1753  are  repealed, 
as  regards  these  counties.  The  acts  of  1791  for  Cecil  county  and  1793  for 
Queen  Anne's  county  are  repealed;  but  so  much  of  the  acts  of  1787  and  1790 
as  relates  to  Baltimore  county  is  not  repealed. 

This  act  of  1794,  though  professedly  an  attempt  at  uniformity, 
admitted  an  exception  to  the  general  law  by  superimposing,  in  Alle- 
gany county,  the  old  plan  of  compulsory  labor  upon  the  new  methods 
of  a  fixed  county  tax.  Any  person  summoned  might,  however,  com- 
pound at  the  rate  of  3s.  9d.  per  diem,  and  complete  exemption  from 
labor  might  be  obtained  by  the  annual  payment  of  15s.  current 
money. 

The  next  year  the  provisions  of  this  law  were  extended  2  to  Anne 
Arundel  and  Washington  counties,  as  they  had  "  proved  beneficial  "  in 
the  others. 

The  rates  to  be  levied  in  certain  counties  were  changed  as  follows : 

Baltimore   5s. 

Somerset  2s. 

Cecil    6s. 

Kent   3s.  6d. 

1  Special  provision  is  made  that  one-third  of  the  money  levied  on  the  in- 
habitants on  the  east  side  of  Elk  Kun  shall  be  expended  on  the  same  locality. 

2  Chap,  xliii. 

10 


150  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

The  Justices  of  Baltimore,  Cecil,  Montgomery,  Washing-ton,  Talbot,  Prince 
George's,  Kent,  Somerset,  Frederick  and  Anne  Arundel  were  given  full  power 
to  contract  for  roads,  etc.,  and  to  appoint  persons  to  review  them  when 
finished. 

The  provision  in  the  former  act  as  to  the  distribution  of  the  taxes  is  re- 
pealed as  is  also  the  "  group  "  law  of  1790  x  authorizing  the  Justices  of  Mont- 
gomery county  to  levy  a  tax  of  2s.  on  every  £  100.  This  power  is  now  trans- 
ferred to  the  Levy  Court.  Since  a  sufficient  number  of  hands  cannot  be 
hired  in  Queen  Anne's  and  Caroline  counties,  supervisors  in  these  counties 
are  authorized  to  require  as  many  male  slaves  as  may  be  necessary;  but 
not  more  than  one-half  of  the  number  of  slaves  belonging  to  one  person 
are  to  be  summoned  the  same  day.  Other  unimportant  particulars  follow. 

Reaction  towards  Separate  Legislation. 

By  these  two  acts  a  degree  of  generality  was  given  to  the  law, 
which  now  applied  to  all  the  then  existing  counties  except  St.  Mary's, 
Charles,  Calvert,  Dorchester  and  Worcester.  The  chief  characteristic 
of  the  law  as  now  in  effect  was,  as  has  been  seen,  the  substitution  of  a 
regular  property  tax  for  compulsory  labor  on  the  highways.  One 
would  naturally  expect  to  find  the  remaining  counties  adopting  this 
method,  but  the  exact  opposite  is  the  case,  for  in  the  following  year 
Somerset  county  drops  out,  and,  with  Worcester,  goes  back  to  the  law 
of  1704  with  its  supplements.2  The  system  provided  is  more  detailed 
but  the  principles  are  the  same.  Apparently  the  change  was  not  im- 
mediately successful,  as  the  law  regarding  Somerset  county  was  modi- 
fied four  times  within  the  next  five  years. '*  The  same  year4  some 
alterations  were  made  also  in  the  existing  provisions  for  Cecil,  Talbot 
and  Kent  counties. 

In  Cecil  additional  provisions  were  made  concerning  the  assessment 
of  damages  when  new  roads  were  opened.  In  Kent  and  Talbot  it  was 
found  that  a  sufficient  number  of  hands  could  not  be  hired  at  reason- 
able wages  to  repair  the  public  roads,  which,  therefore,  remained  in  bad 
condition,  while  the  supervisors  were  subjected  to  a  fine  for  neglect. 
The  latter  were  consequently  empowered  to  require  of  owners  as  many 
able-bodied  slaves  as  might  be  necessary  to  work  on  the  roads." 

1  Chap,  xxxii.  2  1796,  chap.  lix. 

3  By  the  acts  of  1797,  chap.  Ixxxiv;  1798,  chap,  xxxviii;  1799,  chap,  v;  1801, 
chap.  Ixxxiii.  4  1796,  chap.  Ix. 

5  By  the  same  act  the  power  of  contracting  granted  the  courts  in  these 
three  counties  by  the  supplementary  act  of  1795  is  extended  to  roads  laid 
out  prior  to  the  passage  of  that  act. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  151 

A  year  later  the  law  for  Talbot  county  is  again  changed,1  the  present 
modes  being  "  too  expensive.77 

The  Justices  of  the  Peace  are  to  meet,  and  in  a  well-bound  book  set  down 
what  are  the  public  roads  of  Talbot  county,  and  nominate  overseers,  not 
more  than  five  in  each  hundred.  A  fine  of  $10  is  provided  for  refusal  to 
uct  as  overseer,  but  no  member  of  the  legislature,  magistrate,  preacher  or 
teacher,  nor  practicing  attorney,  nor  physician,  nor  commissioner  of  the 
tax,  shall  be  liable  to  such  service,  nor  shall  any  one  be  liable  to  serve  more 
than  once  in  three  years.  Fines  for  non-performance  of  duty  are  provided, 
and  after  April  1st  following,  all  former  acts  respecting  Talbot  county  are 
repealed. 

In  1798  Caroline  county  2  also  returned  to  the  labor  system,  by 
which  every  free  male  inhabitant  over  twenty-one  years  of  age  was 
made  to  serve  in  road-repairing.  So  Kent  county,  which,  it  has  been 
shown,  began  in  1794  3  with  the  property  tax  system,  changed  the  rate 
in  1795,4  and  in  1796  "  added  compulsory  slave  labor,  now,  in  1799,6 
goes  over  entirely  to  the  labor  system. 

The  overseers  appointed  yearly  by  the  Justices  are  authorized  to  call 
upon  all  free  male  inhabitants  between  the  ages  of  20  and  50  and  upon  all 
male  servants  and  slaves  over  16  to  labor  upon  the  highways.  The  over- 
seers are  given  power  to  contract,  etc.,  and  the  Justices,  to  turn  old  roads 
upon  application.  Not  more  than  one-half  of  the  males  of  any  family  are 
to  be  called  on  at  one  time,  but  all  persons  are  to  be  summoned. 

The  details  of  the  provisions  of  this  act,  the  fourth  respecting  Kent 
county  in  half  a  dozen  years,  might  lead  one  to  suppose  that  some 
progress  had  at  last  been  made  towards  stability  in  road  legislation; 
but  the  exact  opposite  was  the  case.  The  very  next  year,  1800,7  the 
whole  system  was  again  modified. 

"  The  present  law  has  been  found  to  bear  very  unequally  on  the  citizens." 
An  assessment  of  40  cents  on  every  £100  of  property  is  to  be  made,  and 
the   supervisors  are   to   require   of   the   owners  of   slaves  as  many  as  they 
deem  necessary.     For  the  payment  of  the  tax,  labor  may  be  substituted. 

The  various  county  laws  have  now  been  carried  with  some  detail 
from  1766  to  the  end  of  the  century,  and  an  increasing  tendency  to 
diverge  from  the  general  law  has  been  shown  which  is  plainly  due 


1  1797,  chap.  Ixiii.  2  Chap.  xvi.  3  Chap.  lii.  4  Chap,  xliii. 

5  Chap.  Ix.  6  Chap.  Ixxxi.  7  Chap.  Iviii. 


152  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

to  the  difference  in  local  conditions  and  needs.  Occasional  attempts 
at  uniformity  are  apparent,  but  the  instability  of  these  attempts  is 
equally  clear.  It  is  evident,  however,  that  there  are  two  main  though 
conflicting  ideas  in  the  legislation  of  this  period:  (1)  The  plan  of  rais- 
ing money  for  road-repair  by  a  general  property  tax,  and  the  appro- 
priation of  such  funds  to  the  hire  of  labor  upon  highways;  (2)  com- 
pulsory labor,  whether  of  freemen  or  of  slaves. 

It  would  be  quite  possible  to  discuss  this  county  legislation  to  the 
present  time,  treating  specifically  each  alteration  and  amendment  of 
every  law  for  every  county.  Such  a  treatment  would,  however,  be 
extremely  unprofitable,  as  it  would  deal  chiefly  with  repeals  and  repe- 
titions of  very  similar  laws.1  But  while  the  provisions  for  the  care 
and  repair  of  roads,  the  appointment  of  supervisors,  the  collection  of 
funds,  etc.,  are  constantly  changing,  a  certain  progress  towards  gen- 
eralization is  seen  in  the  increased  powers  given  to  the  various  county 
commissioners  in  regard  to  the  opening,  changing,  and  closing  of 
roads  upon  petition.  That  such  powers  should  be  granted  was  a 
matter  of  necessity.  The  legislation  in  regard  to  single,  private  roads, 
unimportant  from  a  general  standpoint,  was  extensive  at  an  early 
period.  As  population  increased  the  demand  for  new  roads  became 
greater;  and  the  Assembly  seemed  in  danger  of  being  overburdened 
with  the  mass  of  road-legislation  required.  It  was  not  long,  therefore, 
before  the  powers  of  the  county  courts  were  enlarged,  while  efforts 
were  made  to  check  the  demands  upon  the  Assembly's  time  by  regula- 
tions as  to  petitions  for  roads,  compelling  persons  applying  for  roads 
of  a  personal  or  private  nature  to  give  notice  thereof  in  the  news- 
papers, or  by  advertisement  on  the  Court-house  door,  for  four  weeks 
previous  to  such  application.2 

The  extension  of  the  powers  of  the  county  commissioners  was  at 
first  confined  to  particular  counties.  In  179 6,8  for  example,  the  levy 
courts  of  Somerset  and  Worcester  counties  were  authorized  to  direct 
the  surveyors  of  their  respective  counties  to  lay  out  new  roads  upon 

1  With  the  exception,  of  course,  of  compulsory  slave  labor. 

2  1813  Resolve,  No.  8. 

3  1796,  chap.  lix. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  153 

the  application  of  all  the  owners  of  the  land  through  which  the  new 
road  must  pass.1 

The  discussion  of  the  general  extension  of  the  powers  of  the  county 
commissioners  must  be  deferred  to  the  following  chapter  on  General 
Legislation.  Meanwhile,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  lack 
of  uniformity  to-day  in  provisions  for  the  management  of  county  roads 
is  no  new  thing,  but  dates  back  to  colonial  times,  and  has  resulted 
from  the  various  causes  described  in  the  first  part  of  this  chapter. 

GENERAL    LEGISLATION. 

The  first  road-law  under  the  newly  erected  state  government  was 
passed  in  1Y79,2  while  the  Revolution  was  still  in  progress.  This, 
an  "  Act  relating  to  public  roads/7  established  new  fines :  for  neglect 
of  duty  by  overseers,  £100;  for  refusal  of  laborers  to  work,  £5;  or 
refusal  of  masters  to  send  servants  when  summoned,  £5.  It  also  re- 
pealed the  exemptions  to  iron-workers  granted  by  previous  laws. 

This  act,  with  the  earlier  act  of  1704,3  variously  modified  and  ex- 
tended, remained  for  some  time  the  general  highway  law  of  the  state, 
and  included  provisions  for  all  counties  unprovided  for  by  special 
enactment.  There  were  also  sundry  attempts  to  harmonize  the 
various  needs  of  the  counties  in  one  law  with  special  tax-rates;  but 
these  attempts,  as  has  been  indicated,  were  fruitless,  because  it  was 
impossible  to  get  all  the  counties  to  accept  either  the  fixed  road-tax, 
or  the  system  of  compulsory  labor  upon  the  highways. 

Extension  of  the  Powers  of  the  County  Courts. 

Mention  has  been  made  of  the  extension  of  the  powers  of  county 
courts  relative  to  the  opening  and  closing  of  roads,  etc.  It  was  along 
this  line  that  general  legislation  again  became  practicable.  Accord- 
ingly, the  attempt  to  secure  complete  uniformity  was  relinquished, 

1  The  power  of  altering  old  roads,  upon  petition  of  two-thirds  of  the  in- 
habitants of  a  hundred,  was  conferred  upon  many  of  the  county  courts  by 
1794,  chap.  Hi,  which  see. 

2  Chap.  xiv. 

8  The  law  of  1704,  as  modified  by  1723,  1753,  etc.  (which  see)  was  fre- 
quently continued.  See  1785,  chap.  Ixxvii;  1795,  chap,  xxxvii;  1789,  chap. 
Ixv;  1798,  chap.  Ixxi. 


154  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

and  the  counties  were  given  as  much  special  legislation  for  the  care 
and  repair  of  their  roads  as  they  desired,  while  the  provisions  con- 
cerning the  powers  of  the  county  courts,  or  commissioners,  in  regard 
to  opening  new  roads,  etc.,  were  eventually  embraced  in  a  general 
law.  In  1818  1  the  county  courts,  except  in  Worcester  county,  were 
empowered  upon  petition  of  any  person  interested  in  opening,  straight- 
ening, or  shutting  up  a  public  road,  to  issue  a  commission  to  three 
freeholders  to  examine  whether  the  public  convenience  requires  it. 

After  giving  notice,  these  may  decide,  upon  oath,  for  or  against  the  road. 
The  Court  is  to  pass  judgment  if  no  objection  is  presented,  and  a  trial  by 
jury  is  authorized  in  cases  where  objection  is  made.  The  commissioners 
are  to  ascertain  the  damages,  subject  to  the  order  of  the  Court,  which  is 
to  determine  whether  they  shall  be  paid  by  the  petitioners,  or  by  the  county, 
or  in  proportion  by  both.  The  Levy  Court  is  to  levy  money  for  the  roads 
adjudged  to  be  opened,  etc.,  and  for  the  damages,  and  is  to  cause  the  said 
road  to  be  opened,  etc.  Such  roads  are  to  be  thereafter  public  roads. 

In  1853  there  was  substituted  for  the  law  of  1818  a  much  more 
detailed  act,2  which,  with  an  act  of  1856, 3  formed  the  basis  of  the  code 
of  I860,4  and  this,  in  turn,  with  the  addition  of  laws  of  1874  5  and 
1888,6  constitutes  the  present  law  on  this  subject  as  contained  in  the 
Public  General  Laws.7 

Penal  Legislation  and  the  Roads. 

There  remains  a  class  of  legislation  for  some  time  closely  connected 
with  that  concerning  highways.  A  penal  statute  of  ITS 8  8  authorized 
the  erection  of  a  new  Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer  and  Gaol  Delivery 
in  Baltimore  county.  This  Court  was  ordered  to  condemn  any  per- 
son convicted  of  the  crime  therein  specified,  and  also  any  vagrants, 
to  labor  upon  the  roads  in  Baltimore  county.  The  general  court  and 
the  various  county  courts,  also,  were  authorized  to  sentence  persons 
convicted  before  them  of  the  same  crimes  and  misdemeanors  to  the 
same  penalty  of  labor  upon  the  roads  in  Baltimore  county,  the  expense 
of  their  transportation  to  Baltimore  being  borne  in  the  former  case 

1  Chap.  Ixxxix.  2  1853,  chap.  ccxx.  3  1856,  chap,  cccviii. 

4  Public  General  Laws  (1860)  art.  28.  5  1874,  chap,  cccxi. 

6 1888,  chap,  cccclxvii.  7  Public  General  Laws,  art.  25.  8  Chap.  xi. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  155 

by  the  state,  in  the  latter  by  the  county  so  passing  sentence.  In  addi- 
tion the  county  courts  were  authorized  to  sentence  criminals  to  labor 
upon  the  roads  of  their  own  county,  making  such  provision  for  their 
care  and  expenses  as  they  might  see  fit. 

This  act  seems  to  have  been  put  into  practice  chiefly  in  Baltimore 
county,  where  the  convicts  were  put  to  work  on  the  main  roads  of  the 
county.  The  turnpikes  undertaken  by  Baltimore  county  were,  to  a 
large  extent,  constructed  by  their  labor,  as  appears  from  the  accounts 
published  from  time  to  time  by  the  commissioners  of  the  roads.  By 
a  resolution  adopted  at  the  session  of  1S07,1  the  Justices  of  the  Levy 
Court  were  authorized  to  apply  the  whole,  or  the  necessary  part,  of  the 
dividend  received  by  them  from  the  Baltimore  and  Frederick,  and  the 
Baltimore  and  Reisterstown  roads,  to  the  support  of  the  convicts  work- 
ing upon  the  roads.  Two  years  later  2  any  male  convict  heretofore 
condemned  to  labor  on  the  roads  was  allowed  to  pray  the  court  to  com- 
mute his  sentence  to  confinement  in  the  penitentiary. 

When  the  turnpikes  were  surrendered  by  the  county  to  private 
corporations,  the  convicts  were  transferred  to  the  principal  county 
roads.  In  1810,  for  example,  they  were  divided  into  two  lots,  one- 
half  to  work  on  the  Liberty  road,  and  the  other  half  on  the  Bel  Air 
and  the  Philadelphia  post-road.3  Upon  the  further  development  of 
the  penitentiary  system  this  method  of  road-construction  was  aban- 
doned. 

Private  Roads. 

The  laws  treated  above  referred  exclusively  to  public  roads,  and  for 
a  long  time  private  rights-of-way  had  apparently  never  been  made  the 
subject  of  legislation.  ,In  1Y85,4  however,  an  act  was  passed  "  To 
declare  and  ascertain  the  right  of  citizens  of  the  State  to  private  roads 
or  ways." 

"Whereas,"  the  preamble  recites,  "  the  citizens  of  this  State  ought  to 
have  a  road  or  way  from  their  farms  and  plantations  to  places  of  public 
worship,  mills,  market-towns,  public  ferries  and  Court-houses.  And  such 
benefit  ought  to  be  enjoyed  and  experienced  with  as  little  possible  dam- 

1  Resolution  No.  I.  '-  1809,  chap,  xxxviii. 

3 1810,  chap.  Ixxxviii.  *  Chap.  xlix. 


156  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

age  or  injury  to  the  lands  through  which  such  private  roads  or  ways  shall 
pass."  The  county  courts  on  application  are  authorized  to  direct  the  sur- 
veyor of  their  county  to  lay  out  such  private  road,  etc.,  not  exceeding  16 
feet,  clear  of  ditches,  in  breadth;  upon  objection  of  any  person  through 
whose  land  the  road  may  run  the  court  may  order  such  change  as  they 
may  think  desirable,  shall  direct  the  application  and  return  to  be  recorded, 
and  shall  decide  on  the  compensation  due  to  the  owners  of  the  land  through 
which  the  road  is  to  run,  which  compensation  shall  be  paid  by  the  person 
or  persons  applying  for  the  road.  Thereupon  such  road  is  to  be  considered 
a  private  way,  to  be  kept  open  and  repaired  at  the  expense  of  such  person 
as  shall  use  the  same,  and  no  one  shall  change  or  stop  up  such  road  l  under 
fine  of  £5,  current  money. 

In  1834  1  was  passed  a  new  and  more  detailed  law  for  private  roads. 
This,  together  with  certain  provisions  of  laws  of  1832,2  1836,8  and 
1839,4  was  embodied  in  the  Code  of  I860,5  whence  it  has  been 
re-enacted  into  that  of  the  present  day. 

METHODS  OF  TRAVEL  AT  THE  END  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 

The  extracts  and  references  in  this  and  the  preceding  divisions  are 
typical  of  the  legislation  regarding  highways.  To  learn  the  results 
of  this  legislation,  to  discover  the  actual  conditions  of  travel,  other 
sources  than  the  laws  themselves  must  be  consulted. 

After  the  Revolution  the  maps  are  much  more  detailed  than  in 
earlier  years.  Griffith's  map  of  Maryland  in  particular,  contains  indi- 
cations of  the  more  important  roads,  and  would  admit  of  interesting 
comparison  with  the  knowledge  derived  from  the  laws,  did  space 
permit.  The  almanacs,  which  in  earlier  colonial  days  gave  few 
facts  as  to  the  distances  and  routes  from  colony  to  colony,  are  later 
supplemented  by  detailed  and  exact  road-maps  giving  every  turn  and 
twist  in  the  road.  Such  a  map  is  that  of  Christopher  Colles,  pub- 
lished in  1787,  and  entitled  "  A  Survey  of  tne  Roads  of  the  United 
States  of  America."  Plates  51  to  62  give  the  roads  from  Philadelphia 
to  Annapolis,  the  route  being  portrayed  upon  two  or  three  plates  to 
each  page.  Similar  information  is  given  by  the  "  Traveller's  Director 
or  Pocket  Companion,"  published  at  Philadelphia  in  1804,°  which 
includes  a  detailed  description  of  the  route. 

1  Chap,  ccliii.  -  Chap,  ccxcii.  3  Chap.  cclv.  4  Chap,  xviii. 

5  Public  General  Laws  (1860),  art.  28,  sec.  29. 

8  In  the  Map  Department  of  the  Congressional  Library  in  Washington. 


MARYLAND  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY 


VOLUME  III.  PLATE  XIV. 


.f) 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  157 

At  the  time  of  the  French  and  Indian  "War,  Governor  Sharpens 
coach-and-four  was  out  of  place  upon  any  other  than  the  main  road 
through  the  province.  In  fact,  before  the  Revolution  carriages  were 
few  in  number,  and  rarely  used  except  in  the  finest  weather.  First- 
rate  saddle-horses  were  much  in  demand,  as  the  newspapers  of  the 
time  plainly  show.  Fox-hunting  and  horse-racing  were  among  the 
principal  diversions,  and  the  raising  and  importing  of  blooded  horses 
received  much  attention.  Members  of  the  Assembly,  lawyers,  actors, 
and  parsons,  and  indeed  all  to  whom  time  was  important  and  speed 
a  necessity,  preferred  the  activity  of  a  thoroughbred  to  the  lumbering 
"  chariot  "  of  these  early  times. 

In  Annapolis  the  use  of  coaches  grew  apace.  The  family  coach, 
with  its  trappings  and  outriders,  was  a  matter  of  pride  in  which  the 
society  of  Annapolis  turned  out  to  every  horse-race,  or  drove  to  Marl- 
boro to  see  the  latest  company  of  players.  "  They  have  light  and 
elegant  carriages  which  are  drawn  by  fine  horses,"  is  the  comment 
of  the  Abbe  Robin *  on  this  phase  of  Annapolitan  life,  while  Eddis 
writes  just  before  the  Revolution :  "  Our  races,  just  concluded,  con- 
tinued four  days,  .  .  .  and  surprising  as  it  may  appear,  I  assure  you 
there  are  few  meetings  in  England  better  attended  or  where  more 
capital  horses  are  exhibited." 

STAGE-LINES    ANI>    STAGES. 

A  glimpse  at  the  methods  of  transportation  in  Maryland  towards 
the  beginning  of  this  century,  before  the  turnpikes  had  been  com- 
pleted, might  go  far  to  dispel  any  illusions  as  to  the  "  good  old  times," 
of  which  so  much  is  often  heard. 

Stage-lines  indeed  there  were,  and  had  been,  since  1765,  in  which 
year  the  first  line  of  stage-vessels  and  wagons  was  set  up  to  go  once  a 
week  from  Philadelphia  to  Baltimore  by  way  of  Christiana  and 
French-town  on  Elk  river.3  In  1785  the  Maryland  Legislature 
granted  G.  P.  Van  Home  an  exclusive  right  to  keep  stage-carriages 

1  Robin.     Nouveau  Voyage  dans  1'Amerique  Septentrionale,  p.  104   (Phila- 
delphia, 1782). 

2  Eddis.     Letters  from  America,  p.  106  (London,  1792). 
8  Watson's  Annals  of  Philadelphia,  vol.  i,  p.  219. 


158  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

"  on  the  publick  road  from  the  river  Susquehannah  to  the  river  Pa- 
towmack," x  and  five  years  later  Robert  Hodgson  and  James  Thomp- 
son 2  were  granted  the  sole  and  exclusive  permission  to  set  up  a  stage- 
line  from  the  Delaware  boundary,  via  Chestertown,  to  Gresham 
College  on  the  bayside  in  Kent  county  by  the  great  public  road  on 
the  Eastern  Shore,  and  were  also  given  a  right,  not  exclusive,  to  run 
stages  from  North  Point  to  Baltimore  Town.  This  route  seems  to 
have  been  popular,  though  stress  of  weather  often  made  delay  in 
crossing  the  Bay  unavoidable.  These  stages  started  regularly  from 
Mr.  Grant's  tavern  in  Baltimore  every  Monday,  Wednesday,  and 
Friday  morning  and  at  six  o'clock  on  the  same  days  from  Mr.  James 
Thompson's  at  the  Indian  Queen,  Fourth  Street,  Philadelphia.3 

Another  favorite  route  was  by  packet  up  the  Chesapeake  and  Dela- 
ware bays,  using  land  transportation  only  across  the  peninsula.  This 
was  a  very  old  and  popular  route,  perhaps  because  it  took  less  time. 
It  was  not  long  before  rival  companies  sprang  up,  one  between  French- 
town  and  Newcastle,  and  the  other  from  Cecil  Court  House  to  New- 
castle.4 

Very  many  other  stage-lines  were  afterwards  opened.  In  1790 
one  was  advertised  between  Baltimore  and  Annapolis.  The  trip  was 
made  three  times  a  week,  the  price  being  10s.  during  the  summer 
season  including  fourteen  pounds  of  baggage.0  .  There  were  also  many 
stage-lines  from  the  western  country. 

The  vehicle  in  which  one  ventured  upon  such  a  journey  has  been 
minutely  described.  The  coach  "  was  a  sort  of  wagon  on  springs,  an 
open  carriage,  with  a  top  to  it  made  of  boards;  and  on  each  side,  and 
at  the  ends,  curtains,  to  be  let  down,  baize  on  the  inside,  and  a  sort  of 
canvas  on  the  outside,  tied  with  leather  ties  to  the  supporters  of  the 
top,  on  the  sides  and  at  the  bottom,  catching  on  a  sort  of  stud  like  that 
of  a  single-horse  chaise  apron.  The  coach  has  three  seats  within  the 
carriage  and  one  the  coachman  sits  on  before.  Thus  it  carries  twelve 
people,  three  on  each  seat,  as  two  passengers  ride  by  the  side  of  the 

1  Chap.  xiv.  2  Chap,  xxviii. 

3  See  the  newspapers  of  the  period:  e.  #.,  The  Maryland  Journal  and  Bal- 
timore Advertiser,  July  22,  1791. 

4  Maryland  Journal  and  Baltimore  Advertiser,  March  22,  1791. 

5  Maryland  Journal  and  Baltimore  Advertiser,  April,  1790. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  159 

coachman;  but  the  mail-coach  carries  only  nine  passengers,  the  mail 
lying  in  the  inside  of  the  coach." 

THE    PAINS    AND    PLEASURES    OF    TRAVEL. 

One  advantage  certainly  was  afforded  by  the  vehicles  of  the  last- 
century — time  for  observation.  In  such  a  conveyance  as  has  been 
described,  one  might  travel  at  the  rate  of  4  or  5  miles  in  fine  summer 
weather,  but  in  winter  often  not  more  than  one  mile  an  hour  could  be 
made.  Yet  time  spent  in  this  manner  was  certainly  not  disagreeably 
employed,  for  many  picturesque  scenes  would  present  themselves  to 
the  traveler.  Seated  in  such  a  conveyance,  he  might  be  entertained 
as  was  one  gentleman  in  his  journey  through  Maryland,  on  a  Sunday 
morning  a  century  ago,  at  the  sight  of  girls  riding  to  the  parish  church 
nearby,  escorted  by  a  negro  boy  perched  behind  one  of  the  fair  eques- 
triennes, for  whom  he  jumped  down  every  few  minutes  to  open  the 
numerous  gates  that  barred  the  road,  and  then  nimbly  resumed  his 
seat  without  any  detention  of  the  party.2  On  a  working  day  one  might 
meet  a  long  procession  of  horses,  mules,  or,  more  probably,  oxen,  drag- 
ging hogsheads  of  tobacco  by  pivots  driven  into  each  end  and  shafts 
attached.3 

At  another  turn  in  the  road  one  might  barely  escape  collison  with  a 
monstrous  family  coach,  escorted  by  gorgeously-liveried  outriders, 
and  proceeding  on  its  journey  with  more  style  than  comfort  to  its 
occupants.  Again,  there  is  need  to  pull  up  sharply  in  order  to  yield 
the  road  to  the  more  rapid  wagon  or  "  coachee  "  which  has  overtaken 
the  coach,  lumbers  of  carts  are  passing  along,  and  farm-wagons, 
with  high-ribbed  bows  covered  with  canvas,  to  shield  the  farmer  from 
the  sun  by  day  and  the  dews  by  night.  Nearer  Baltimore  Town  one 
meets  large  gangs  of  "  wheelbarrow  men,'7  those  convicts  who,  before 
the  institution  of  the  penitentiary  system,  were  condemned  to  labor 
upon  the  highways.  Accompanying  each  group  is  an  overseer,  wear- 

1  Parkinson,  R.     A  Tour  in  America  in  1798,  1799  and  1800,  vol.  i,  pp.  252-3. 
(London,  1805.) 

2  Sutcliff,  E.     Travels  in  some  parts  of  North  America  in  the  Years  1804, 
1805  and  1806,  p.  48.     (Philadelphia,  1812.) 

;i  Sutcliff.     Travels,  p.  99. 


160  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

ing  side-arms  and  often  carrying  a  musket.  Here  and  there  are  cabins 
in  which  the  convicts  at  night  are  lodged  or  imprisoned.1 

The  driver  is  a  steady  man  with  a  wonderful  knack  of  avoiding  the 
many  stumps  and  large  trunks  of  trees  that  fill  the  road.  He  guides 
his  horses,  usually  named  after  the  prominent  politicians  of  the  day, 
more  by  the  different  noises  he  makes  than  by  the  use  of  the  reins. 
Stopping  over  night  at  one  of  the  wayside  inns  one  may  get  a  bed 
for  a  quarter  of  a  dollar  the  night.2  It  will  not  do  to  appear  too 
anxious  about  accommodations,  for  the  host,  in  an  injured  tone,  in- 
forms one  gentleman  that  he  need  give  himself  no  trouble  on  that 
score,  because  no  less  than  eleven  beds  may  be  found  in  one  of  his 
rooms.3  For  breakfast  or  supper  one  pays  half  a  dollar;  for  dinner, 
one  dollar.  On  the  bill-of-fare  may  be  found  tea,  coffee,  fish,  beef- 
steak, mutton-chops,  sausages,  eggs,  several  kinds  of  bread  and  butter, 
"  cakes  of  buckwheat,  &c." 

Danger,  as  well  as  discomfort,  attends  the  passage  of  the  many 
ferries  which  are  found  on  the  line  of  the  main  road.  If  the  wind  is 
high  the  trip  is  perilous  as  well  as  uncomfortable.  If  the  water  is 
low  we  may  have  to  mount  upon  the  backs  of  sturdy  watermen  and 
so  be  "  toted  "  out,  with  possibilities  of  descent  into  the  mud/  But 
even  on  land  the  journey  may  be  filled  with  discomfort,  One  traveler 
has  left  a  particularly  dolorous  account  of  his  misfortunes,  experi- 
enced, strange  to  say,  upon  the  main  road  from  Philadelphia  via  Bal- 
timore to  "Washington.  His  own  words  must  recount  his  adventures: 
"  But  the  best  cultivated  parts  of  the  country  are  not  seen  from  the 
road,  which  passes  chiefly  over  barren  and  hilly  tracts,  called  '  ridges.7 
The  reason  for  carrying  the  road  over  these  is,  because  it  is  found  to 
be  longer  than  if  carried  over  the  flat  part  of  the  country,  where  the 
soil  is  deep,  a  circumstance  which  the  people  of  Maryland  always 
take  into  consideration;  for  after  a  road  is  once  cut,  they  never  take 
pains  to  keep  it  in  good  repair.  The  roads  in  this  state  are  worse 

1  Tyson,  M.  E.     A  Brief  Account  of  the  Settlement  of  Ellicott's  Mills,  p.  18. 

2  Parkinson's  Tour,  vol.  i,  pp.  253-4. 

*  Weld,  I.,  Jr.  Travels  through  the  States  of  North  America  during  the 
years  1795,  1796  and  1797,  p.  16,  note. 

4  Parkinson's  Tour,  vol.  i,  p.  255. 

5  Sutcliff.     Travels,  p.  59. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  161 

than  in  any  one  in  the  Union;  indeed,  so  very  bad  are  they,  that  in 
going  from  Elkton  to  the  Susquehannah  ferry  the  driver  frequently 
had  to  call  to  the  passengers  in  the  stage  to  lean  out  of  the  carriage 
first  at  one  side,  then  at  the  other,  to  prevent  it  from  oversetting  in  the 
deep  ruts  with  which  the  road  abounds :  (  Now,  gentlemen,  to  the 
right/  upon  which  the  passengers  all  stretched  their  bodies  half-way 
out  of  the  carriage  to  balance  it  on  that  side:  '  Now,  gentlemen,  to 
the  left/  and  so  on.  This  was  found  absolutely  necessary  at  least  a 
dozen  times  in  half  the  number  of  miles." 

His  comments  on  the  road-construction  of  the  times  are  interesting: 
"  Wherever  they  attempt  to  mend  these  roads,  it  is  always  by  filling 
the  ruts  with  saplings  or  bushes,  and  covering  them  over  with  earth. 
This,  however,  is  done  only  when  there  are  fields  on  each  side  of  the 
road.  If  the  road  runs  contiguous  to  a  wood,  then,  instead  of  mending 
it  where  it  is  bad,  they  open  a  new  passage  through  the  trees,  which 
they  call  making  a  road.  It  is  very  common  in  Maryland  to  see  six 
or  seven  different  roads  branching  out  from  one,  which  all  lead  to  the 
same  place,  A  stranger,  before  he  is  acquainted  with  the  circum- 
stance, is  frequently  puzzled  to  know  which  he  ought  to  take.  The 
dexterity  with  which  the  drivers  of  the  stages  guide  their  horses  along 
these  new  roads,  which  are  full  of  stumps  of  trees,  is  astonishing." 

Speaking  of  the  travel  between  Baltimore  and  Washington,  he 
recites:  "  The  roads  passing  over  these  bottoms  are  worse  than  any  I 
ever  met  with  elsewhere.  In  driving  over  one  of  them,  near  the 
headwaters  of  a  branch  of  Patuxent  river,  a  few  days  after  a  heavy 
fall  of  rain,  the  wheels  of  a  sulky  which  I  was  in  sank  up  to  the  very 
boxes.  For  a  moment  I  despaired  of  being  able  to  get  out  without 
assistance,  when  my  horse,  which  was  very  powerful,  finding  himself 
impeded,  threw  himself  upon  his  haunches,  and  disengaging  his 
forefeet,  made  a  vigorous  plunge  forward,  which  luckily  disengaged 
both  himself  and  the  sulky  and  freed  me  from  my  embarrassment. 
I  was  afterwards  informed  that  General  Washington,  as  he  was  going 
to  meet  Congress  a  short  time  before,  was  stopped  in  the  very  same 
place,  his  carnage  sinking  so  deep  in  the  mud  that  it  was  found  neces- 
sary to  send  to  a  neighboring  house  for  ropes  and  poles  to  extricate  it. 


162  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

Over  some  of  these  bottoms,  which  were  absolutely  impassable  in  their 
natural  state,  causeways  have  been  thrown  which  are  made  with  large 
trees  laid  side  by  side  across  the  road.  For  a  time  these 
causeways  afford  a  commodious  passage;  but  they  do  not  last  long, 
as  many  of  the  trees  sinking  into  the  soft  soil,  and  others  exposed  to 
the  continual  attrition  of  the  wagon-wheels  in  a  particular  part,  break 
asunder.  In  this  state,  full  of  unseen  obstacles,  it  is  absolutely  a 
matter  of  danger  for  a  person  unacquainted  with  the  road  to  attempt 
to  run  a  carriage  along  it.  The  bridges  over  the  creeks,  covered  with 
loose  boards,  are  as  bad  as  the  causeways  and  totter  as  a  carriage 
passes  over.  That  the  Legislature  of  Maryland  can  be  so  inactive 
and  not  take  some  steps  to  repair  this,  which  is  one  of  .the  principal 
roads  in  the  state,  the  great  road  from  north  to  south  and  the  high 
road  to  the  city  of  Washington,  is  most  wonderful !  " 

THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  TURNPIKES  IN  MARYLAND. 

The  development  of  the  turnpike  system  in  Maryland  and  its  influ- 
ence upon  the  commercial  welfare  of  the  state  is  a  subject  to  which 
little  attention  has  been  paid,  but  which  would  afford  material  for  a 
separate  volume.  A  complete  discussion  is  forbidden,  however,  by 
the  extent  of  the  foregoing  matter;  and  while  the  rise  of  the  turnpikes 
will  be  traced  with  some  detail,  their  history,  after  the  period  of  their 
greatest  importance,  must  be  discussed  only  in  the  most  general  terms. 

A  "  turnpike  "  or  turnpike  road  is  generally  understood  to  have 
three  characteristics : 

1.  An  improved  surface  or  road-bed. 

2.  A  system  of  toll-gates  placed  at  certain  intervals. 

3.  An  incorporated  company  with  shares  of  stock,  etc.,  furnishing 
the  capital  for  the  construction  of  the  road. 

The  first  road  in  the  United  States  fulfilling  all  three  conditions  is 
said  to  have  been  that  between  Philadelphia  and  Lancaster,  con- 
structed by  a  company  incorporated  in  1791,  for  the  stock  of  which 
frequent  advertisements '  appear  in  the  Philadelphia  papers  of  that 
and  the  next  year.  This  turnpike  was  finished  in  1795. 

1  Weld,  I.,  Jr.     Travels,  etc.,  pp.  22ff. 

2  Watson.     Annals  of  Philadelphia,  vol.  iii,  p.  152. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  163 

BALTIMORE  COUNTY  TURNPIKES. 

Four  years  later,  in  1787,1  the  Legislature  of  Maryland  made  pro- 
vision for  the  construction  of  several  roads  called  turnpike  roads  in 
Baltimore  county.  The  language  used  in  the  preamble  of  the  act 
then  passed  shows  how  strongly  the  need  of  improved  road-beds  was 
felt: 

"  The  public  roads  leading  from  Baltimore  town  to  the  western  part  of 
the  state,  by  reason  of  the  great  number  of  wagons  that  use  the  same,  are 
rendered  almost  impassable  during  the  winter  season,  and  the  ordinary 
method  of  repairing  the  said  roads  is  not  only  insufficient  but  exceedingly 
burthensome;  and  the  establishment  of  several  turnpike  roads  in  the  said 
county  would  greatly  reduce  the  price  of  land-carriage  of  produce  and  mer- 
chandize, and  raise  the  value  of  the  land  in  the  said  county  and  considerably 
increase  the  commerce  of  the  state." 

Commissioners  were  appointed  "  to  examine,  survey,  lay  out  and 
mark  a  public  road  from  Baltimore-town  towards  Frederick-town  in 
Frederick  County  to  the  line  of  Baltimore  County,  sixty-six  feet  wide, 
and  on  as  straight  a  line  as  the  nature  of  the  country  will  permit;  " 
in  so  doing  they  should  "  consider  not  only  the  distance  but  the  good- 
ness of  the  ground  on  which  the  said  road  is -to  pass."  Similarly, 
other  commissioners  were  to  lay  out  "  roads  from  Baltimore-town  to 
Reisterstown,"  "  from  Reisterstown  to  Winchester-town  [West- 
minster ?] ;  "  "  from  Reisterstown  to  Hanover-town,  to  the  line  of 
Baltimore  County,"  and  a  road  "  from  Baltimore-town  towards  York 
to  the  line  of  Baltimore  County." 

These  highways  possessed  two  of  the  three  usual  characteristics  of 
a  "  turnpike  road;  "  special  provision  was  made  for  the  improvement 
of  the  road-beds,  and  the  erection  of  toll-gates  was  ordered.  The  con- 
struction and  subsequent  management  of  these  roads  was  entrusted, 
however,  not  to  a  private  company  incorporated  for  that  purpose,  but 
to  numerous  officials  to  be  appointed  by  the  court  of  Baltimore  county. 

The  roads  were  to  be  cleared  sixty-six  feet  wide,  with  beds  forty  feet 
wide,  raised  in  the  middle  eighteen  inches  above  the  sides.  "  When  neces- 
sary," the  beds  were  to  be  "  covered  or  crowned  with  small  stones  or  coarse 
gravel."  Milestones  and  guide-posts  were  to  be  set  up. 

To  cover  the  expenses  of  construction  and  management,  two  means  were 
provided:  First,  officers  known  as  the  Commissioners  of  Review  were  to 
set  up  toll-gates  and  collect  tolls  of  specified  rates.  Secondly,  a  property 

1  April  Session,  chap,  xxiii. 


164  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

tax  of  3s.  9  d.  per  £  100  for  the  first  year,  and  of  2s.  6d.  for  succeeding  years, 
was  to  be  levied  in  Baltimore  county.  Besides  the  "  Commissioners  of  the 
Roads  "  and  the  "  Commissioners  of  Review,"  there  were  to  be  a  Surveyor 
and  a  Collector.  At  least  twice  a  year  accounts  were  to  be  published  in 
the  Baltimore  papers. 

This  unique  plan  of  turnpiking  under  county  authority  was  upon 
the  whole  unsuccessful.  Within  fourteen  years  the  act  of  1787  was 
amended  no  less  than  ten  times.  Many  of  these  changes  were  unim- 
portant; in  1790,  however,  the  influence  of  the  legislation  for  counties 
led  to  a  law  *  empowering  the  Commissioners  of  Review  to  appoint 
one  or  more  supervisors  for  the  roads  in  question  and  permitting  the 
substitution  of  personal  labor  for  the  payment  of  the  tax  authorized 
in  1787.  This  merely  increased  the  division  of  authority  that  already 
existed;  and  finally,  in  1801,2  provision  was  made  "  for  better  guard-* 
ing  the  executive  part  of  the  said  law"  [of  1787].  It  was  now 
decided  to  dispense  with  the  numerous  officials  of  the  earlier  law,  and 
the  management  of  the  turnpike  roads  was  given  to  a  superintendent 
who  should  be  appointed  by  the  court  of  Baltimore  county,  give  bond 
for  $5,000,  appoint  supervisors,  clear  the  roads,  etc.  The  books  and 
property  of  the  former  commissioners  and  supervisors,  and  also  the 
convicts  at  work  upon  the  roads,  were  to  be  transferred  to  the  new 
officials. 

That  some  progress  was  made  in  the  construction  of  these  roads  we  may 
learn  from  the  accounts  published  from  time  to  time  by  the  Commissioners 
of  Review,  two  of  which  it  may  be  worth  while  to  give. 

BALTIMORE,  MARCH  18,  1791. 

BALTIMORE    COUNTY,    FOR    TURNPIKE   ROADS,    IN    ACCOUNT    WITH    SAMUEL 

OW1NGS,  TREASURER. 
DR.  £.  s.  d. 

To  cash  paid  for  Sundries  from  the  5th  of  July,  1788,  to 
to  the  14th  of  Feb.,  1791,  as  follows: 

For  Centinels  and  Labor  our  ers,  Wagons  and  Cart  hire....     467         8 

For  Lands  taken  from  the  road  to  Reisters-Town,  Survey- 
ing and  laying  out  roads,  carpenters  work,  physicians' 
attendance,  medicine  and  commissioners'  attendance....  770  8  8 

For  clothing  and  victualling  the  criminals  during  that 
time,  and  for  Carts,  Horses,  Waggons,  and  Sundry 
Tradesmen's  Bills  3,332  3  9 


4,570         1  3y2 

To  balance  due  the  Treasurer  per  Contra 102       17  4y2 

^790,  chap,  xxxii.  -  1801,  chap.  Ixxvii. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  1G5 

CR.                                                                                                                               £.  s.  d. 

By  Cash  received  of  Philip  Graybell,  Esq 2,428  6          4 

By  ditto  received  of  Thomas  Kutter,  Esq 2,038  17           7% 

By  balance  due  the  Treasurer 102  17  4% 


4,570         1  31/3 

(Errors  excepted.) 

Baltimore,  Feb.  14,  1791. 

Samuel  Owings,  Treasurer. 
Baltimore,  March  14,  1791. 
Compared  with  the  vouchers,  and  passed. 

O.  H.  Williams,  ^)  Commmissoners 

Daniel  Bowley,  of 

Charles  Ridgely  of  Wm.  j  Review. 

BALTIMORE  COUNTY,  FOR  TURNPIKE  ROADS,   IN  ACCOUNT  WITH  THE 

TREASURER  OF  SAID  ROADS. 

DR.  £.  s.  d. 

1801. 

To  balance,  per  account  filed  last  year 2,700         4         9% 

Paid  overseers,  centry,  gate-keepers,  Medicine  and  attend- 
ance, per  vouchers  up  to  October  1st,  1801 812       19         8 

Paid  for  timber,  fire-wood,  building  stone  for  bridges, 
masons,  lime  surveyors,  commissioners,  provisions  and 
clothing  for  criminals,  iron,  steel,  blacksmiths'  tools, 
carts  and  horses,  wagon  hire,  &c.,  per  vouchers  to  Oc- 
tober, 1801  4,341  10  93^ 


7,863  14  6 

CR.                                                                                                                     £.  s.  d. 

By  C.  H.  Gist,  Esq.,  since  October,  1800 1,096  14  4 

By  J.  Wilson,  Esq.,  to  October,   1801 1,398  17  4 

By  H.    Stevenson    791  5 

By  Middle   Gate    912  13  1 

By  York  Gate    420  2  5y2 

By  Frederick   Gate    278  11  5 

By  Sundry  small  credits    43  19  3 

Balance  due  sundry  creditors 2,921  11  4y2 


7,863          14         6 
Samuel  Owings,  Treasurer. 
Baltimore,  October,  1801. 

Examined,  compared  with  the  vouchers,  and  past. 

(Signed)  James  Ogleby, 

J.  Nathan  Ellicott, 
William  Owings, 
David  McMechen, 
Charles   Ridgely  of  Hampton. 
11 


166  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

The  latter  account  shows  a  marked  deficit.  The  next  year,  1801, 
by  an  act  to  which  reference  was  made  above,1  an  additional  tax  of 
50  cents  per  100  was  laid  in  Baltimore  county  and  new  rates  of  toll 
were  specified.  The  Levy  Court  was  empowered  to  borrow  $1,600 
to  finish  the  roads.  This  was  insufficient,  and  a  further  tax  of  15  cents 
per  100  was  levied  the  same  year.2  In  1802,  fifteen  years  after  the 
original  act,  it  was  ordered  that  the  Keisterstown  turnpike  should  be 
recorded  as  completed.3 

INCORPORATION    OF    PRIVATE    TURNPIKE    COMPANIES. 

When  the  failure  of  the  experiment  of  turnpiking  under  county 
authority  became  apparent,  efforts  were  made  to  attract  private  capital 
to  investment  in  the  construction  of  turnpike  roads.  For  some  time 
these  attempts  were  equally  fruitless.  The  first  turnpike  company 
in  Maryland,  incorporated  in  179 6,  to  build  a  turnpike  road  between 
Baltimore  and  Washington,4  apparently  accomplished  nothing,  and 
those  immediately  following  seem  to  have  been  no  more  fortunate.0 

THE    TURNPIKES    OF    1804-5. 

It  was  not  until  the  session  of  1804-5  that  legislation  was  enacted 
which  had  a  permanent  result.  In  that  year  there  were  passed  two 
acts,  which  may  be  said  to  have  laid  the  basis  of  the  turnpike  system 
in  Maryland.  The  fifty-first  chapter  of  this  year's  legislation  is  en- 
titled "  An  Act  to  Incorporate  Companies  to  make  Several  Turnpike 
Roads  through  Baltimore  County,  and  for  other  purposes."  The  pre- 
amble recites  that  "  it  is  represented  to  this  General  Assembly,  that  by 
the  several  laws  heretofore  passed  on  this  subject  the  desirable  object 

1 1801,  chap.  Ixxvii.  2 1801,  chap.  Ixxxvii.  3 1802,  chap.  Ixxx. 

4  Chap.  Ixix.     Capital,  $160,000.00. 

The  provisions  for  tolls  include  this:  For  every  single  horse,  camel,  ass 
or  mule,  $0.01. 

5  Other  companies  apparently  unsuccessful  were:  the  Elizebeth  Turnpike 
Company,  incorporated   1797   (chap.   Ixv) ;  the  Reisterstown  turnpike   roads 
(1797,  chap.  Ixx),  intended  to  connect  with  the  county  turnpike  of  the  law 
of  1787;  the  Alleghany  Turnpike  Eoad   (1801,  chap,   xlv) ;  and  the  Cumber- 
land and  Union  Road  (1801,  chap.  lii).     These  incorporations  make  evident 
the    desire    to    improve    the    conditions    of    intercourse    with    the    western 
country. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  167 

contemplated  by  the  Legislature  lias  not  been  obtained  and  the  public 
expectation  almost  entirely  frustrated."  Three  companies  were 
accordingly  incorporated  to  make  roads  as  follows: 

1.  From  Baltimore  through  Xew  Market,  Frederick  and  Middle- 
town  to  Boonsborough.1 

2.  From  Baltimore  through  Reisterstown   towards  Hanover   and 
through  Westminster  to  the  Pennsylvania  line,  towards  Petersburgh, 
as  shall  be  agreed  upon  by  a  majority  of  the  stockholders.2 

3.  From  Baltimore  toward  York  to  the  Pennsylvania  line.8 
Various  extensions  of  these  roads  were   subsequently  authorized 

(a)  from  Boonsborough  to  Hagerstown,  (6)  from  Boonsborough  to 
Williamsport/  (c)  from  Frederick  to  Harper's  Ferry,'  afterwards,  in 
1815,°  put  under  a  separate  company,  and  (d)  from  Boonsborough  to 
the  beginning  of  the  Cumberland  Turnpike  Company's  road.7  By  an 
act  of  1805,8  the  second  road  might  be  extended  from  Westminster  to 
Taneytown,  Emmitsburg,  and  thence  to  Pennsylvania  line. 

The  titles  of  the  three  companies  were  to  be  respectively — 
The  President  and  Managers  and  Company  of  .the 

Baltimore  and  Frederick  Town  Turnpike  Eoad, 
"  "    Eeisterstown 

"    York  Town 
and  the  companies  were  given  full  corporate  powers. 

The  text  of  this  act  is  very  lengthy,  containing  thirty-nine  sections. 
Some  of  the  most  important  provisions  are  as  follows: 

The  roads  are  to  be  made  over,  and  upon  the  beds  of  the  present  roads, 
as  laid  out  and  confirmed  by  the  Commissioners  of  Review  [of  1787]. 

Baltimore  county  having-  expended  considerable  sums  in  turnpiking  these 
roads,  is  to  be  reimbursed  by  the  payment  to  the  county  of  shares  of  turn- 
pike stock  to  an  amount  equal  in  value  to  the  old  roads.  This  value  is  to 
be  ascertained  by  the  arbitration  of  nine  commissioners  for  each  road,  three 
of  whom  are  to  be  chosen  by  the  Levy  Court;  three  by  each  company,  and 
the  remaining-  three  by  the  former  six.  The  Levy  Court,  upon  receiving- 
the  stock  awarded  by  the  commission,  shall  then  have  all  the  privilege  of 

Capital  Stock,  $220,000.  2  Capital  Stock,  $160,000. 

3  Capital  Stock,  $100,000.  4  1804,  chap.  ci. 

5  November,  1809,  chap,  cxxiv.  °  Chap,  clxvi,  sec.  17. 

7  See  1815,  chap.  cxxv.  8  Chap.  Ixvii. 


168  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

voting",  &c.,  of  an  individual  holding-  the  same  number  of  shares.1  Anne 
Arundel  and  Frederick  counties  are  also  to  be  reimbursed  for  their  expense 
in  laying1  out  such  parts  of  the  roads  as  lie  within  their  limits. 

Twenty  feet  in  breadth,  at  least,  is  to  be  made  an  artificial  road,  which 
shall  be  bedded  with  wood,  stone  or  gravel,  or  any  other  hard  substance 
well  compounded  together  a  sufficient  depth  to  secure  a  solid  foundation; 
and  the  road  is  to  be  faced  with  gravel  or  stone  pounded,  or  some  other 
hard  substance,  in  such  manner  as  to  secure  a  firm  and,  as  near  as  possible, 
an  even  surface.  The  road  is  in  no  place  to  rise  or  fall  more  than  will 
form  an  angle  of  4°  with  a  horizontal  line,  except  over  the  Catoctin  and 
South  Mountains,  where  an  angle  of  6°  will  be  tolerated.  "  The  companies 
shall  forever  hereafter,  during  the  continuance  of  said  incorporation  or 
incorporations  maintain  and  keep  the  same  in  good  and  perfect  order  and 
repair." 

Upon  finishing  the  first  and  every  subsequent  ten  miles  of  road  the  com- 
panies may  notify  the  Governor  of  the  state,  who  shall  then  nominate  and 
appoint  three  persons  to  review  the  same.  If  they  report  favorably  upon 
the  completed  "work,  the  Governor  shall,  by  license,  permit  the  erection  of 
so  many  gates  as  will  be  necessary.2 

The  Treasurer  of  the  Western  Shore  is  constituted  a  Court  of  Inspection, 
to  whom  the  companies  shall  report  annually  as  to  their  receipts  and  ex- 
penses. The  Stockholders  are  not  to  receive  more  than  10%  net  profit  on 
their  investment.  The  companies  shall  keep  accounts,  an  abstract  of  which 
is  to  be  laid  before  the  General  Assembly  by  the  Court  of  Inspection  every 
third  year  until  two  years  after  the  roads  are  completed.  The  Court  of 
Inspection  is  to  employ  the  surplus  above  10%  profits  to  purchasing  out 
the  stock  of  the  respective  roads.  The  General  Assembly  may  purchase  the 
road  at  any  time  by  paying  the  respective  companies  the  cost  of  the  roads 
with  interest  equivalent  to  10%  on  their  investment. 

If  the  road  is  considered  to  be  out  of  repair,  a  jury  of  inquisition  is  to 
be  summoned.  If  they  find  the  road  imperfect  as  alleged,  the  collection  of 
tolls  shall  cease  at  the  nearest  gate  on  each  side  of  the  defective  spot. 
Fines  are  provided  for  evading  the  tolls. 

The  companies  are  to  erect  posts  and  index  hands  and  mile-stones,  and 
the  distance  between  gates  is  to  be  marked  on  the  gates.  The  destruction 
or  defacing  of  such  posts,  etc.,  is  punishable  by  a  fine. 

Drivers  are  to  be  kept  to  the  right.  Persons  living  on  or  adjacent  to  the 
roads  and  within  three  miles  of  a  toll-gate  are  to  pay  toll  but  once  in 

1  The  Levy  Court  of  Baltimore  County  shall   continue  the  present   turn- 
pike gates  on  the  turnpike,  and  appoint  toll-gatherers  to  receive  the  pres- 
ent tolls  until  the  companies  have  finished  their  respective  roads  ten  miles 
from  Baltimore  City. 

2  Kates  of  toll  are  established  by  section  20  for  any  person  riding,  leading 
or  driving  horses,  cattle,  hogs,  sheep,  sulkey,  chair,  chaise,  phaeton,  coach, 
coachee,  cart,  wagon,  sleigh,  sled  or  other  carriage  of  pleasure  or  burden. 
Two  oxen  are  charg-ed  the  same  as  one  horse.     Limits  are  set  to  the  weight 
of  loads  upon  wagons  of   specified  tire  width.     The   companies  may  erect 
scales  and  compel  the  weighing  of  teams. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY 


169 


twenty-four  hours.  The  tolls  may  be  farmed  out.  The  laws  relating  to 
convict  labor  on  the  roads  are  to  be  in  force  until  the  turnpikes  are  fin- 
ished. Provision  is  made  as  to  the  time  of  commencement  and  completion 
of  the  roads;  and  the  construction  of  the  York  and  Keisterstown  roads  is 
suspended  until  Jan.  1st,  1808.  This  provision  was  however  modified.1 


)R  EVERY 


$?  RATES  OF  TOLL 


SCORE  0F  SHEEP, 


HOGS,  I 

CATTLE,  24 


*w»ts  per.  Mil*. 


JMORSE^HiS  RIDERoKpD  HORSE, 
JCH&R  OR  CHAISE,  With  ione  HORSi 

TWO  WHEELS. 

FOR  EVERT  JCHARIQTT,  COACH.  STAGE.  WAft 
PHAETON  dr  CHA!St>w:t!i  two  HORSES  ai 
four  Wheef$,  ,  its  per.  M. 

ervof  the  CARRIAGES 
r  HORSES, 

'  ,i'ijc. 

LYESY  other  CARRIAGE  if  F 
under  whatkoeyer  name  it  ma^  bo,  the  hke 
sums  srill  be  charged  accords* 


ART  or  WAGK)N 
xceed  in  weadtli  fou> 
§  seven  inches!  Co 


FIG.  4.— Old  sign-board  giving  the  rates  of  toll  on  animals  and  vehicles. 

The  Falls  Turnpike  Company  was  incorporated  in  the  same  year, 
1804.2  This  was  to  run  from  the  cross-roads  near  Richard  Caton's 
lime-kiln  in  Baltimore  county,  nearly  along  the  line  of  Jones'  Falls 
to  the  City  of  Baltimore.  Special  provision  was  made  against  the 
York  road  trade  being  diminished  by  the  Falls  turnpike. 

1  In   1805,   the   requisite    stock   having  been   subscribed,   the    Reisterstown 
Company  was  authorized  to  proceed  at  once  [chap,  xv],  and  similar  permis- 
sion was  granted  the  York  Company  in  1807   [chap,  cxliv]. 

2  Chap.  xci. 


170  HIGHWAY  LEGISLATION  IN  MARYLAND 

GALLATIN'S  REPORT  ON  TURNPIKES. 

In  accordance  with  a  resolution  of  the  Senate  adopted  March  2, 
1807,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Albert  Gallatin,  prepared  a  list 
of  questions  to  acquire  information  concerning  turnpikes,  and  copies 
of  this  list  were  distributed  in  the  states  through  various  Federal 
officers.  From  the  answers  to  these  queries  much  may  be  learned 
concerning  the  exact  status,  in  1807,  of  the  turnpikes  authorized  by 
the  acts  of  1804  of  the  Maryland  Legislature. 

Falls  Turnpike.  "  The  Falls  Turnpike,"  reports  Kichard  Caton,  "  is  ex- 
pected to  unite  the  trade  of  the  North  with  Baltimore.  It  is  in  a  direct  line 
to  Hanover  and  Carlisle."  The  $38,000  requisite  to  complete  the  road  "  will 
be  eagerly  subscribed  when  the  company  can  get  permission  from  the  Legis- 
lature to  make  a  good  road  from  the  end  of  the  Falls  Turnpike  to  a  road 
which  leads  to  the  State-line  of  Pennsylvania,"  at  a  distance  of  nine  miles. 
He  thinks  the  Legislature  has  refused  this  permission  from  an  over-scrupu- 
lous regard  for  the  interests  of  the  Reisterstown  Road.  "  The  application 
must,  however,  prevail,  as  it  is  founded  on  justice  and  public  utility." 

"  The  road  is  not  yet  completed;  the  cost  is  estimated  at  $7,500  per  mile, 
including  bridges,  and  the  whole  length  is  somewhat  over  nine  miles." 

Reisterstown  Roads.  The  Secretary  of  the  Reisterstown  Turnpike  Road 
Companies  reports: 

(1)  Baltimore  and  a  point  on  the  Pennsylvania  line  towards  Hanover  are 
united;  distance  about  thirty-five  miles;  and  Baltimore  and  a  point  on  the 
Pennsylvania  line  towards  Petersburg  are  united;  distance  about  forty-five 
miles.     The  road  forks  at  Reisterstown,  sixteen  miles  from  Baltimore. 

(2)  The  greatest  elevation  of  the  hills  is  24  feet  perpendicular  from  the 
bed  of  the  road.     The  greatest  angle  of  ascent  which  has  been  allowed  is 

3y8°. 

(3)  Describes  the  breadth  of  the  road  and  continues:     "The  form  con- 
vex, twenty-four  feet  in  width  along  the  middle  of  the  road,  and  one  foot 
in  depth  is  bedded  with  stone  broken  small  enough  to  pass  through  a  ring 
of  three  inches  diameter.     The  rest  is  clay." 

(4)  Details  of  bridges — all  of  which  are  of  stone. 

(5)  Cutting  through  hills  and  filling  up  valleys  are  particular  difficulties 
surmounted  and  to  be  encountered. 

(6)  Expenses  for  construction,  $10,000  per  mile. 

(7)  Capital   already   expended  is  about  $200,000;  that  vested  is  $420,000. 
Ten  miles  of  road  have  been  completed,  and  the  work  is  progressing. 

(8  and  9)     Information  as  to  tolls  and  charters. 

Frederick  Road.  Jonathan  Ellicott  of  the  Baltimore  and  Fredericktown 
Turnpike  Road  reports  at  greater  length: 

The  distance  from  Baltimore  to  Boonsborough  is  about  sixty-two  miles. 
The  contract  for  the  first  twenty  miles  of  the  road  was  made  July  4th, 
1805,  and  the  cost  was  $9,000  a  mile  on  the  average.  The  gates  were  up  and 
toll  being  received  by  April  24,  1807.  Seventeen  miles  farther  are  contracted 
for  at  about  $7,000  per  mile,  and  of  these,  only  ten  are  completed. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  17 1 

"  It  may  be  observed,"  he  continues,  "  that  from  Boonsborough  to  Cum- 
berland, a  distance  of  seventy-four  and  a-half  miles,  as  the  road  now  runs, 
is  as  yet  without  any  provision  by  laws  for  its  improvement,  further  than  as 
common  county  roads  in  other  parts  of  the  State.  ...  To  bring  into  full 
operation  the  benefits  contemplated  by  the  general  government  by  the  road 
leading  from  Fort  Cumberland  to  the  Ohio,1  it  becomes  necessary  that  the 
State  of  Maryland  should  either  take  this  matter  upon  her  own  account 
or  put  it  in  the  power  of  Congress  to  promote  a  design  which  it  is  to  the 
interest  of  the  Union  to  carry  into  effect.2 

THE  BANKS  AND  THE  TURNPIKE  TO  CUMBERLAND. 

The  years  of  1812  and  1813  witnessed  an  important  step  in  the 
turnpike-construction  of  Maryland.3  The  president  and  directors  of 
the  several  incorporate  banks  in  the  City  of  Baltimore,  the  president 
and  directors  of  the  Hagerstown  Bank,  of  the  Conococheague  Bank, 
and  of  the  Cumberland  Bank  of  Alleghany,  were  incorporated  by  the 
name  of  "  The  President,  Managers  and  Company  of  the  Cumberland 
Turnpike  Koad,"  for  the  purpose  of  surveying,  locating  and  making 
a  turnpike  road  from  some  point  on  the  west  bank  of  Big  Conoco- 
cheague through  Hancock  to  Cumberland. 

This  company  is  invested  with  all  the  rights  of  those  incorporated  in  1804 
with  the  same  provisions  as  to  tolls,  etc.  The  charters  of  the  banks  in- 
cluded in  the  statute  are  extended  to  January  1,  1835,  upon  condition  of  the 
several  banks  subscribing  in  proportion  to  their  respective  paid-in  capitals 
for  as  much  stock  as  will  cover  the  expense  of  completing  the  road.  In  case 
any  one  of  these  banks  augments  its  capital,  its  President  and  Directors 
are  required  to  subscribe  for  an  additional  amount  of  stock  in  proportion. 
The  President  and  Directors  of  each  bank  subscribing  are  to  choose  one 
manager  for  every  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  of  road  stock  subscribed 
by  them,  but  every  bank  is  to  have  the  choice  of  one  manager.  The  man- 
agers so  chosen  shall  elect  from  among  themselves  a  President  and  Treas- 
urer. 

The  road  is  to  be  made,  stoned,  etc.,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  Frederick 
Turnpike,  except  in  parts  where  stoning  is  thought  unnecessary.4 

• 

1  The  National  Road. 

2  American  State  Papers,  Miscellaneous,  vol.  i,  pp.  900-909. 

3  1812,  chap.  Ixxix;  1813,  chap,  cxxii.     The  latter  act  was  a  substitute  for 
the  former. 

4  After  Jan.   1st,  1815,  all  the  incorporated  banks  in  the  state  shall  pay 
annually  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  Western  Shore  a  tax  of  20  cents  on.  every 

.$100  of  their  capital  stock,  as  a  further  condition  of  the  extension  of  their 
charters.  The  proceeds  of  this  tax  are  to  be  invested  in  stock  of  the  Com- 
mercial and  Farmers'  Bank  of  Baltimore  and  the  Mechanics'  Bank  of  Bal- 


172  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

INCREASE    OF   TURNPIKE    COMPANIES. 

Meanwhile  the  incorporation  of  turnpike  companies  went  on  un- 
ceasingly. Many  schemes  that  had  previously  failed  were  taken  up 
again.  For  example,  the  unsuccessful  Baltimore  and  Washington 
Turnpike  Company  of  1796  was  succeeded  in  1812  1  by  a  new  com- 
pany formed  to  make  a  turnpike  road  from  Baltimore  to  Norwood's 
Ferry  on  the  Patapsco,  and  thence  by  McCoy's  Tavern,  Vansville, 
the  White  House,  Ross's  Tavern  and  Bladensburg  to  Washington. 
In  1813  2  the  Newcastle  and  French-town  turnpike,  which  had  not 
succeeded  when  first  incorporated  in  1809,3  was  revived,  and  the  Balti- 
more and  Strasburg,4  Baltimore  and  Havre  de  Grace,"  and  the  West- 
minster, Taneytown  and  Emmitsburg 6  Turnpike  Companies  were 
incorporated.  Two  years  later,  in  1815,  the  Baltimore  and  Frederick 
Turnpike  Company  was  authorized  to  open  subscriptions  for  addi- 
tional stock  to  the  amount  of  $160,000,  to  construct  a  road  from 
Boonsborough  to  that  point  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Conococheague, 
at  which  the  Cumberland  Turnpike  road  began.7  At  the  same  time 
the  control  of  the  Harper's  Ferry  road  was  taken  from  them.8 

GOVERNOR  GOLDSBOROUGH'S  REPORT. 

Three  years  later  is  found  an  interesting  executive  communication 
from  Governor  Charles  Goldsborough  to  the  Assembly  on  the  sub- 
ject of  turnpike  roads.  This  was  prepared  in  accordance  with  a  reso- 
lution of  the  House  adopted  the  previous  session,  calling  for  informa- 
tion on  this  point.  A  list  of  queries  was  sent  to  the  various  turnpike 

timore,  to  be  a  fund  for  the  establishment  of  Free  Schools,  kept  separated 
from  the  rest  of  the  funds  of  the  State  of  Maryland.  The  Treasurer  is  to 
report  thereon  annually  to  the  General  Assembly.  The  banks  may  escape 
the  payment  of  the  annual  tax  by  paying  to  the  state  before  January  1, 
1816,  the  sum  of  $200,000.  .If  the  banks  agree  to  these  propositions,  the 
faith  of  the  state  is  pledged  to  impose  no  new  tax  on  them  and  to  incorpo- 
rate no  new  banks  in  Baltimore  before  January  1,  1835. 

Thus  by  this  act  two  great  ends  were  had  in  view.  The  connection  of  the 
Cumberland  or  National  Road  with  Baltimore  and  the  establishment  of  the 
public  school  system  of  Maryland. 

1  1812,  chap.  Ixxviii.  -  1813,  chap.  Ixxxii.     December  Session. 

3  1809,  chap.  Ixiv.  4 1813,  chap,  cxxvi.     December  Session. 

5  1813,  chap,  clxvii.     December  Session. 

6  1813,   chap,   clxxiii.     December   Session.         7  Chap.   cxxv.         8  Chap,   clxvi. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  173 

companies,  and  a  summary  of  the  answers  was  given  in  the  Governor's 
report. 

The  report  commences  with  some  general  remarks  upon  the  subject.  The 
aggregate  capital  invested  in  turnpike  roads  is  valued  at  $2,100,000,  the 
greater  part  of  which  is  owned  in  Baltimore.  The  stock  owned  by  the 
state  is  $10,000  in  the  Frederick  Road  and  $5,000  in  the  York  Road.1 

Concerning  the  difficulties  of  the  turnpike  companies  in  the  existing  situ- 
ation, it  is  reported  that  each  company  sustains  a  great  loss  from  parallel 
roads,  which  are  neither  turnpiked  nor  shut  up,  and  in  fine  weather  are 
patronized  by  all  but  the  heaviest  teams  in  order  to  avoid  paying  the  tolls. 
Another  mistake  was  made  in  fixing  the  tolls  arbitrarily  at  so  much  per 
horse  according  to  the  kind  of  carriage,  whereby  an  empty  wagon  pays  as 
much  as  one  with  the  heaviest  load  if  the  number  of  horses  is  the  same. 

It  is  suggested  that  the  tolls  be  regulated  according  to  the  weight,  and 
also  according  to  the  season,  light  in  fine  weather  and  heavy  in  wrinter.  A 
most  pernicious  practice  is  that  of  locking  the  wheel  of  a  heavily  loaded 
wagon  descending  a  hill,  thereby  tearing  up  the  road,  when  frost  and  wet 
weather  have  made  the  foundation  soft.  This  is  especially  true  of  moun- 
tain roads.  The  substitution  of  the  "  shoe  "  is  earnestly  recommended, 
that  is,  "  a  piece  of  iron,  or  even  wood,  18  inches  or  2  feet  long  and  4,  6  or 
8  inches  broad,  fastened  to  the  cross-bar  or  bolster  of  the  wagon  by  a  chain 
which  is  just  of  such  a  length  that  when  the  shoe  is  slipped  under  the 
hinder  wheel,  the  chain  prevents  it  falling  farther  back,  and  the  wagon 
being  in  motion,  the  shoe  is  dragged  on  bearing  tlie  wheel  up  on  it."  But 
the  great  scourge  to  a  turnpike  road  is  the  narrow  wheel,  which  should 
be  made  the  subject  of  legislation. 

As  to  the  condition  of  the  various  roads,  the  report  notes  that  the  Fred- 
erick Road  "  was  originally  intended  to  be  made  eleven  miles  further  to 
Williamsport  on  the  Potomac,  but  failed,  however,  in  consequence,  it  is  be- 
lieved, of  the  expenditure  of  the  sum  of  $56,000  upon  the  bridge  over  the 
Monocacy,  which  the  Company  was  not  obliged  by  law  to  make,  but  as- 
sumed it  voluntarily,  in  the  belief  that  the  Legislature  would  grant  them  a 
special  toll  to  meet  the  special  expense.  In  consequence,  however,  of  the 
refusal  of  the  Legislature  to  do  so,  their  capital  was  exhausted  and  them- 
selves discouraged  from  the  prosecution  of  the  road." 

The  Bank  Road  to  meet  the  National  Read  at  Cumberland  appears  to  be 
peculiarily  the  object  of  legislative  care.  The  importance  of  the  retention 
and  development  of  the  connection  with  the  Ohio  country  to  the  commercial 
interests  of  Baltimore  is  dilated  upon  at  length.  The  Frederick  Road  is 
complete  to  Boonsborough,  sixty  miles  from  Baltimore.  The  Reisterstowii 
Road  is  completed  to  the  town  of  Westminster,  whence  the  road  proceeds 
northerly  in  the  direct  route  to  Chambersburg  in  Pennsylvania.  The  under- 

1  A  resolution  of  1808  extended  the  financial  aid  of  the  state  to  the  turn- 
pike companies  by  authorizing  the  Treasurer  of  the  Western  Shore  to  sub- 
scribe for  250  shares  in  the  Baltimore  and  Frederick  Turnpike  Company's 
stock  and  250  shares  in  the  York  Turnpike  stock.  An  additional  subscrip- 
tion was  authorized  the  next  year. 


174  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

taking'  of  another  company  to  make  a  road  from  the  Keisterstown  Road  near 
Westminster  to  Hagerstown  through  Harman's  Gap  in  the  Blue  Ridge,  is 
believed  to  be  at  a  stand  for  want  of  funds.  A  return  was  made  to  the 
executive  on  Dec.  28th,  1816,  that  6y2  miles  were  completed,  and  license  to 
erect  a  toll-gate  was  granted.  The  distance  from  Westminster  to  Hagers- 
town is  estimated  at  forty  miles.  From  Conococheague  Creek  to  Cumber- 
land, fifty-eight  miles,  the  road  undertaken  by  the  banks,  will  be  com- 
pleted by  December,  1820. 

It  appears,  then,  that  there  is  a  gap  in  the  communication  to  Cumberland 
not  provided  for.  This  it  is  proposed  to  fill  up  in  one  of  three  ways:  1st. 
By  finishing  the  road  from  Westminster  through  Harman's  Gap  to  Hagers- 
town; 2d,  by  turnpiking  from  Boonsborough  to  Hagerstown;  and  3d,  by  turn- 
piking  from  Boonsborough  through  Williamsport  to  intersect  the  Bank 
Road  somewhere  at  the  seventh  or  eighth  mile-stone  of  that  road  west  of 
the  Conococheague.  The  executive  does  not  undertake  to  decide  which  of 
these  is  preferable,  but  leaves  that  to  the  Legislature,  whose  attention  he 
moreover  directs  to  the  Bank  Road,  recommending  its  purchase  by  the 
state,  and  the  reduction  of  tolls.  The  creation  of  a  board  of  Commissioners 
of  Public  Works,  to  be  elected  by  the  Legislature,  and  to  serve  without 
salaries,  is  recommended.  The  report  is  supplemented  by  statistical  infor- 
mation from  the  various  turnpike  companies.  From  these  it  is  plain  that 
the  dividends  declared  by  the  Reisterstown,  Frederick  and  York  turnpikes 
show  upon  the  whole  a  steady  increase  down  to  1817,  the  last  year  reported. 

The  immediate  outcome  of  this  communication  was  a  resolution  author- 
izing the  Governor  and  Council  to  ascertain  the  best  terms  upon  which  the 
possession  of  the  road  might  be  obtained  from  the  state,  also  upon  what 
terms  the  banks  would  consent  to  release  from  toll  all  wagons  having  tires 
of  certain  "width. 

FURTHER  BANK  AID. 

In  1818  there  was  published  a  pamphlet  of  some  thirty  pages  en- 
titled "  Remarks  on  the  Intercourse  of  Baltimore  with  the  Western 
Country,"  with  an  accompanying  map,  showing  the  ccm temporary 
status  of  the  turnpike  connection.  The  pamphlet  emphasized  the 
necessity  of  the  undertaking  to  the  commercial  well-being  of  Maryland 
and  also  its  unifying  effect  politically.  This  and  similar  presentations 
of  the  case  seem  to  have  had  due  influence  upon  the  Assembly,  which, 
in  the  session  of  1821,1  extended  the  charters  of  the  banks  ten  years 
longer,  to  1845,  upon  condition  of  their  forming  a  company  to  make 
a  turnpike  from  Boonsborough  to  Hagerstown. 

The  new  company  is  invested  with  all  the  rights  of  the  previous  company 
and  like  that  is  subject  to  an  annual  tax  of  20  cents  on  every  $100  of  their 
•capital  stock,  the  proceeds  of  the  tax  to  be  invested  for  the  benefit  of  the 

1  Chap,  cxxxi. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  175 

free  schools.  Work  is  to  begin  within  two  years,  and  the  road  is  to  be  com- 
pleted within  four  years  thereafter.  It  is  to  be  constructed  like  the  Fred- 
erick Turnpike. 

The  assistance  rendered  to  turnpike  construction  by  investments 
compulsory  or  voluntary  on  the  part  of  trie  banks  was  not  limited  to 
the  cases  mentioned  above.  The  Frederick  and  Harper's  Ferry,  Wil- 
liamsport  and  Hagerstown,  Baltimore  and  Havre  de  Grace  and  other 
turnpikes  received  similar  pecuniary  aid.  Dr.  Bryan  1  states  that  the 
liabilities  thus  assumed  were  unprofitable  to  the  banks,  and  his  view  is 
corroborated  by  the  Executive  Report  of  1817,  to  which,  reference 
has  been  made  above.  The  directors  of  the  Bank  Road,  when  asked 
to  mention  any  particular  grievances  with  which  they  were  afflicted, 
reply:  "  The  Company  have  but  one  grievance  to  complain  of,  and 
that  is  being  compelled  to  make  this  road.  It  is  a  severe  and  oppres- 
sive tax  upon  the  banks,  and  one  which,  under  present  circumstances, 
their  business  does  not  enable  them  to  meet  without  great  embar- 
rassment.'7 

THE  TURNPIKES   AND  BALTIMORE   CITY. 

With  the  completion  of  the  connection  between  Cumberland  and  the 
East,  by  the  construction  of  this  road,  the  importance  of  the  turn- 
pikes reaches  its  height.  The  further  westward  they  extended  the 
wider  was  the  territory  they  "  tapped.''  The  National  Road,  whose 
historic  relation  to  the  State  of  Maryland  will  presently  be  considered 
more  specifically,  was  now  completed  from  Cumberland  to  the  Ohio 
river;  and  from  Cumberland  to  Baltimore  was  an  easy  descent. 

By  these  channels  a  stream  of  wealth  rolled  down  to  Baltimore  to 
be  shipped  to  Europe,  South  America,  or  the  West  Indies.  We  owe 
to  Jared  Sparks,  the  biographer  of  Washington,  a  most  pleasing- 
description  of  Baltimore's  prosperity  in  the  third  decade  of  this  cen- 
tury. "  Within  the  last  thirty  years,"  he  says,  "  the  population  of 
Philadelphia  has  increased  to  a  number  three  times  as  great  as  it  was 
at  the  beginning  of  that  period;  New  York  to  a  number  four  times  as 
great,  and  Baltimore  to  a  number  five  times  as  great.  Among  all  the 
cities  of  America,  or  of  the  Old  World,  there  is  no  record  of  any  one 

1  Bryan,  A.,  State  Banking-  in  Maryland,  pp.  60-61. 


176  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IX    MARYLAND 

which  has  sprung  up  so  quickly  or  to  so  high  a  degree  of  importance 
as  Baltimore.  At  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution  it  was  a  vil- 
lage of  five  thousand  inhabitants,  and  at  the  close  of  the  Avar  it  had 
increased  to  more  than  eight  thousand.  In  magnitude  it  is  now  the 
third  city  in  the  Union,  and  has  held  that  rank  for  nearly  twenty 
years."  In  ascribing  causes  for  this  rapid  development  he  gives  first 
place  to  its  situation,  .  .  .  "  presenting  the  nearest  market  to  the 
western  country/'  adding,  as  other  reasons,  the  fast-sailing  vessels,  the 
almost  exclusive  intercourse  with  San  Domingo  for  a  long  period,  the 
two  great  staples,  flour  and  tobacco,  and  lastly,  and,  it  is  to  be  hoped, 
the  most  enduring  element  of  all,  the  energetic  spirit  of  the  people. 
In  a  more  detailed  manner  he  refers  to  seven  turnpikes  then  entering 
Baltimore  city — the  Reisterstown,  York,  Frederick,  "Washington, 
Bel  Air  and  Havre  de  Grace.  "  Now,"  he  continues,  "  the  line  of 
communication  is  complete  between  Baltimore  and  Wheeling  over  one 
of  the  best  roads  in  the  world,  on  which  it  is  now  in  contemplation 
to  set  up  a  line  of  transport-wagons  to  run  day  and  night." 

From  this  and  other  sources  it  is  possible  to  gather  interesting  details 
of  the  commercial  activity  of  the  time.  "  Large  droves  of  live  stock," 
Sparks  tells  us,  "  especially  hogs,  are  now  driven  every  year  from  the 
banks  of  the  Ohio,  in  Kentucky,  to  Baltimore,  in  preference  to  being- 
packed  on  the  spot  and  sent  down  the  river  by  a  more  speedy  convey- 
ance to  the  New  Orleans  market."  "  In  1827,"  another  record 
relates,  "  a  gentleman  traveling  thirty-five  miles  on  the  road  between 
Baltimore  and  Frederick  met  or  passed  235  wagons  in  his  journey, 
nearly  seven  for  every  mile.  These  wagons  were  generally  of  the 
largest  size  and  very  heavily  loaded." 

The  capacious  courtyards  of  the  old  inns  and  hotels  in  Baltimore 
city,  which  have  one  by  one  disappeared  before  the  advance  of  modern 
civilization,  long  served  to  remind  one  of  these  old  Conestoga  wagons 
that  came  down  to  Baltimore  drawn  by  five  and  six  horses — oftentimes 
with  a  sturdy  bull-dog  chained  behind.  These  wagons  carried  enor- 
mous loads.  Upon  one  occasion  an  ordinary  five-horse  farmer's  wagon 
brought  from  Gettysburg,  Pennsylvania,  to  Baltimore,  ten  barrels  of 

^'Baltimore,"  in  North  American  Review   (1825),  vol.  xx,  pp.  99ff. 

-  Ibid.,  p.  133.  3  Xiles'  Register,  1827,  n.  s.,  vol.  viii,  p.  3-1. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  177 

whiskey  and  fifteen  barrels  of  flour,  besides  a  few  kegs  of  butter, 
weighing  in  all  over  three  tons  and  a  half.1 

THE  RISE  OF  THE  CANAL  AND  THE  RAILROAD. 

Hardly  had  the  turnpike  system  been  perfected,  however,  when  its 
adequacy  began  to  be  threatened  by  another,  beyond  which  the  present 
day  has  not  definitely  advanced.  The  course  of  events  is  summarized 
by  Pitkin  as  follows:  "  The  enterprising  citizens  of  Baltimore  in  1826, 
perceiving  that,  in  consequence  of  steam  navigation  on  the  western 
waters  and  the  exertions  of  other  states,  they  were  losing  the  trade  of 
the  West,  began  seriously  to  consider  some  mode  of  recovering  it." 

The  successful  application  of  steam  to  water  transportation  preceded 
by  some  years  its  use  upon  land.  As  early  as  1823  no  less  than  sev- 
enty-eight steamboats  were  plying  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi  and 
the  Ohio.3  Upon  land  the  use  of  iron  rails  had  been  urged  in  Mary- 
land in  1816;  4  but  it  was  about  ten  years  later  before  such  a  tramway 
was  actually  constructed  in  America,  and  twelve  before  Maryland 
built  the  first  railroad  in  the  United  States,  expressly  intended  for  the 
transport  of  freight  and  passengers. 

Almost  contemporaneous  with  the  agitation  for  railroads  was  that 
for  canals,  and  in  this  also  Maryland  was  not  behind,  for  the  Chesa- 
peake and  Ohio  Canal  was  incorporated  in  1823,°  three  years  before 
the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  in  1826.° 

In  these  t\vo  organizations  have  been  reached  the  latest  developments 
of  the  idea  which  began  in  the  century  before  with  the  labors  of 
Gist,  Nemacolin  and  Washington.  Into  the  further  history  of  such 
internal  improvement  in  Maryland,  interesting  as  the  subject  may 
be,  it  will  be  impossible  here  to  go;  but  it  must  be  noted  that  the 
turnpikes  of  the  early  part  of  this  century  performed  a  greater  service 
for  subsequent  years  than  the  mere  transportation  of  goods;  them- 
selves constructed  upon  earlier  lines,  they  pointed  out  in  almost  every 
instance  the  general  direction  for  the  railroads  which  succeeded  them. 

1  Mies'  Register,  1826,  n.  s.,  vol.  vii,  p.  91. 

2  Pitkin,  Statistics  of  the  U.  S. 

3  Mies'  Register,  1823,  n.  s.,  vol.  i,  pp.  94-5. 

4  Mies'  Register,  vol.  ix,  sup.  p.  151.         5  Chap.  cxl.         6  1826,  chap,  cxxiii. 


ITS  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

SUBSEQUENT    TURNPIKE    LEGISLATION. 

The  statement  that  the  completion  of  the  turnpike  connection  be- 
tween the  East  and  West  marked  the  zenith  of  the  development  of  the 
turnpike  system  in  Maryland,  must  not  be  misunderstood  as  indicating 
that  the  era  of  turnpikes  was  thereby  terminated.  On  the  contrary, 
very  many  turnpikes  were  afterwards  constructed.  But  with  the 
introduction  of  the  railroad  system  their  character  was  changed,  and 
instead  of  being  leading  lines  of  communication,  they  became  feeders 
to  the  railroads,  radiating  to  them  from  the  various  towns  and  thus 
served  to  build  them  up  as  they  had  built  up  Baltimore.  In  some 
instances,  moreover,  on  beds  of  the  turnpikes,  railroads  were  later 
constructed.1 

All  turnpikes  were  incorporated  by  special  acts  of  Assembly  until 
the  year  1868,  when  a  general  incorporation  law  was  provided.  This 
was  modified  by  the  act  of  1882,  chap,  cccc,  and  in  this  form 
represents  the  present  law  as  found  in  The  Public  General  Laws  (art. 
xxiii,  233).  It  remains  only  to  note  that  in  the  course  of  time 
many  of  -  the  turnpikes  have  become  unprofitable.  The  companies 
have  allowed  them  to  lapse  into  the  hands  of  the  various  counties  in 
which  such  roads  or  parts  of  roads  lie.  This  had  commenced  as  early 
as  1850,  according  to  a  publication  entitled  "  History  and  Statistics 
of  Maryland,"  based  upon  the  census  of  that  year.  There  were  then 
263  miles  of  turnpikes  in  use  as  such.  A  map  has  been  prepared 
indicating  which  of  the  turnpikes  are  now  kept  up,  and  which  are  in 
the  hands  of  the  counties. 

MARYLAND'S  RELATION  TO  THE  NATIONAL  ROAD. 

To  conclude  this  study  of  the  development  of  highways  in  Mary- 
land, perhaps  no  more  fitting  theme  can  be  selected  than  a  brief  sketch 
of  that  highway,  which,  above  all  others,  historically  connects  Mary- 
land with  the  United  States,  the  state  with  the  Nation. 

WASHINGTON    AND    THE    OHIO    COUNTRY. 

The  colony  of  Maryland  formed  the  gateway  through  which  the 
English  settlers  of  America  entered  into  the  Ohio  country  before 

1  Acts  of  1827,  chap,  ccvii;  1825,  chap,  cxcviii;  1829,  chap.  Ixiv. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY 

and  during  the  French  and  Indian  War.  It  was  under  the  leader- 
ship of  George  Washington  that  the  western  wilderness  was  first 
really  pierced  and  a  claim  for  the  English  colonies  established.  It 
was  fitting  therefore  that  the  further  development  of  the  Ohio  country 
both  economically  and  politically,  and  especially  the  idea  of  connect- 
ing it  with  the  seaboard  by  improved  means  of  transportation,  should 
be  thenceforth  his  constant  care. 

In  the  interval  between  the  French  and  Indian  War  and  the  Revo- 
lution, Washington  in  various  ways  secured  possession  of  large  tracts 
of  land  in  the  Ohio  country,  having  regard,  however,  for  "  an  exten- 
sive public  benefit,  as  well  as  private  advantage."  He  began  nego- 
tiations for  the  introduction  of  German  settlers  from  the  Palatinate, 
of  whose  thrift  and  success  in  the  cultivation  of  new  country  the 
German  colonizers  of  western  Maryland  had  doubtless  afforded  him 
ample  proof.  He  next  turned  to  the  consideration  of  a  plan  for 
opening  communication  between  the  western  country  and  the  coast. 
The  first  means  which  offered  itself  was  naturally  the  Potomac  river, 
which,  as  far  back  as  1754,2  had  attracted  his  attention.  On  July 
20,  1770,  he  writes  to  Thomas  Johnson,  afterwards  Governor  of  Mary- 
land, urging  that  public  attention  be  invited  to  a  scheme  for  opening 
up  the  communication  of  the  Potomac  "  upon  a  more  enlarged  plan, 
as  a  means  of  becoming  the  channel  of  conveyance  of  the  extensive 
and  valuable  trade  of  a  rising  empire," 

At  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War  Washington  again  turned 
his  attention  to  this  project,  and  the  result  was  the  formation  and 
incorporation  of  the  Potomac  Company  in  1784.  The  history  of  this 
organization  was  unfortunate.  Washington  seems  never  to  have 
doubted  its  success;  and  in  his  will  he  made  the  profits  accruing  from 
his  share  in  it  the  basis  of  a  fund  for  another  of  his  favorite  schemes, 
a  National  University.4  But  the  company  undertook  more  than  its 

1  Sparks.     Writings    of   Washington,   ii,   pp.    375-7.     On   the   whole    subject 
see  Adams,  H.  B.     Maryland's  Influence  in  Founding  a  National  Common- 
wealth.    Maryland  Historical  Society,  Fund  Publication  No.  11. 

2  Report  of  Mr.  Andrew  Stewart.     Reports  of  Committees,  19th  Congress, 
1st  Session.     Report  No.  228,  pp.  1-2. 

3  Stewart's  Report,  p.  29. 

4  See    Washington's   will   in    Sparks'   Writings    of   Washington,    vol.    i,    pp.. 
569-80. 


180  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

finances  would  bear;  and  it  was  finally  superseded  by  the  Chesapeake 
and  Ohio  Canal. 

THE    NORTHWEST    TERRITORY. 

But  the  realization  of  Washington's  idea  was  not  confined  to  the 
Potomac  Company,  for  the  Xational  Road  succeeded  where  the  other 
had  failed.  The  National  Road,  like  the  present  magnificent  system 
of  public  education  in  the  western  states,  grew  out  of  the  public 
lands  of  the  American  Union.  Maryland's  firm  refusal  to  p,gree  to 
the  Articles  of  Confederation  until  the  larger  states  had  yielded  their 
claims  to  the  territory  west  of  the  Alleghanies  won  the  control  over 
that  country  for  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  thereby 
exerted  a  powerful  influence  towards  unity,  at  a  time  when  discord 
ran  high  and  the  prospects  of  the  United  States  becoming  a  nation 
were  at  the  lowest  ebb1. 

For  the  government  of  the  territory  thus  subjected  to  National 
control  provision  was  made  by  the  ordinances  of  1784,  1785,  and 
1787.  The  second  of  these  provided  for  the  reservation  to  the 
United  States  of  certain  sections  in  each  township  for  future  sale.2 
The  last,  the  celebrated  ordinance  of  1787,  provided  that  "  the  navi- 
gable waters  leading  into  the  Mississippi  and  St.  Lawrence,  and  the 
carrying-places  between  the  same,  shall  be  common  highways,  and 
forever  free,  as  well  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  territory  as  to  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States  and  those  of  any  other  states  that  may 
be  admitted  into  the  Confederacy,  without  any  tax,  impost  or  duty 
therefor."  The  sections  of  public  land  reserved  for  sale  by  the 
former  of  these  ordinances  later  furnished  the  pecuniary  basis  for  the 
National  Road,  while  the  phraseology  of  the  latter  anticipated  the 
large  national  character  of  that  highway. 

ALEXANDER    HAMILTON    AND    THE    NATIONAL    IMPROVEMENT    OF 

HIGHWAYS. 

Before  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  there  had  been  sug- 
gested plans  for  an  improvement  of  the  main  routes  of  travel  by  the 

1  For  an  elaborate  discussion  of  this  see  H.  B.  Adams'  work  referred  to 
above. 

2  Journals  of  Congress,  1785,  May  20,  vol.  x,  p.  171. 

3  Journals  of  Congress,  1787,  July  13,  vol.  xii,  p.  91. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  181 

National  Government.  Perhaps  the  most  comprehensive  of  these 
early  schemes  was  that  of  the  great  financier  and  statesman,  Alexander 
Hamilton,  who  emphasized  the  value  and  necessity  of  the  extension 
and  the  "  improvement  of  the  great  communications,  as  well  internal 
as  coastwise,  by  turnpike  roads/7  which  "  would  be  a  measure  univer- 
sally popular.  Xone  can  be  more  so.  For  this  purpose,"  he  con- 
tinued, "  a  regular  plan  should  be  adopted,  coextensive  with  the 
Union,  to  be  successively  executed,  and  a  fund  should  be  appropriated 
sufficient  for  the  basis  of  a  loan  of  a  million  of  dollars.  The  revenue 
of  the  post  office  naturally  offers  itself.  The  future  revenue  from 
tolls  would  more  than  reimburse  the  expense,  and  public  utility 
would  be  promoted  in  every  direction.1 

ALBERT    GALLATIN    AND    THE    INCEPTION    OF    THE    NATIONAL    ROAD. 

Hamilton's  suggestion  and  others  of  a  like  nature  prepared  the 
w;iy  for  the  policy  later  supported  by  Gallatin,  Calhoun,  and  Clay. 
To  Albert  Gallatin,  who  was  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  under  Jef- 
ferson, is  due  the  peculiar  character  of  the  "  enabling  act  "  for  the 
admission  of  Ohio  into  the  Union  as  a  state.  This  act  contained  a 
provision  that  "  one-twentieth  part  of  the  net  proceeds  of  the  lands 
lying  within  the  said  state  sold  by  Congress,  from  and  after  the  30th 
of  June  next,  after  deducting  all  expenses  incident  to  the  same,  shall 
be  applied  to  laying  out  and  making  public  roads  leading  from  navi- 
gable waters  emptying  into  the  Atlantic  to  the  Ohio,  to  the  state  and 
through  the  same,  such  roads  to  be  laid  out  under  the  authority  of 
Congress,  with  the  consent  of  the  several  states  through  which  the 
road  shall  pass."  An  attempt  to  devote  one-tenth,  instead  of  one- 
twentieth  of  the  proceeds  of  land  sales  to  this  purpose  failed  in  the 
Senate.3 

Gallatin  recommended  the  construction  of  these  roads  in  the  highest 
terms.  They  "  will  be,"  he  said,  "  as  beneficial  to  the  parts  of  the 
Atlantic  States  through  which  they  are  to  pass,  and  nearly  as  much 

1  Hamilton  to  Dayton  (1799)  in  Lodge,  Hamilton's  Works,  pp.  517-19. 

2  Act  of  April  30,  1802. 

3  Provisions  similar  to  the  above  were  contained  in  the  acts  for  the  admis- 
sion of  Indiana,  Illinois  and  Missouri. 

12 


182  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IX    MARYLAND 

to  a  considerable  portion  of  the  Union,  as  to  the  Northwestern  Terri- 
tory itself."  * 

A  year  later  Congress  appropriated  three-fifths  of  the  one-twentieth, 
or  five  per  cent. ;  i.  e.,  three  per  cent,  of  the  whole,  to  "  laying  out 
and  making  roads  from  the  navigable  waters  emptying  into  the  At- 
lantic to  the  river  Ohio,  to  the  said  State." 

In  the  next  Congress  an  attempt  was  made  to  pass  a  law  author- 
izing the  President  to  provide  for  the  exploration  of  suitable  routes, 
but  this  was  frustrated  by  the  Senate.  In  1805,  however,  a  report 
was  presented  by  Mr.  Tracy  of  Massachusetts,  showing  that  the  net 
proceeds  of  the  sales  of  lands  in  the  state  of  Ohio  from  July  1,  1802, 
to  September  30,  1805,  amounted  to  $632,604.27,  2  per  cent,  of 
which,  or  $12,652,  was  then  subject  to  the  uses  directed  by  the  law  of 
1802.  This  report  also  discussed  the  best  location  for  the  proposed 
road  or  roads,  treating  especially  of  the  relative  distances  of  the  cities 
of  the  Atlantic  coast  to  the  Ohio  river.  A  route  was  recommended 
as  follows: 

"  The  State  of  Maryland,  with  no  less  spirit  and  perseverance  [than 
Pennsylvania],  are  engaged  in  making  roads  from  Baltimore  and  from 
the  western  boundary  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  through  Fred- 
erick-town to  "Williamsport.  Were  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  to  direct  the  expenditure  of  the  fund  in  contemplation  upon 
either  of  these  routes,  for  the  present,  in  Pennsylvania  or  Maryland, 
it  would,  probably,  so  far  interfere  with  the  operations  of  the  respec- 
tive States,  as  to  produce  mischief  instead  of  benefit;  especially  as 
the  sum  to  be  laid  out  by  the  United  States  is  too  inconsiderable,  alone, 
to  effect  objects  of  such  magnitude.  But  as  the  State  of  Maryland 
have  no  particular  interest  to  extend  their  road  across  the  mountains 
(and  if  they  had  it  would  be  impossible,  because  the  State  does  not 
extend  so  far),  the  Committee  have  thought  it  expedient  to  recom- 
mend the  laying  out  and  making  a  road  from  Cumberland,  on  the 
northerly  bank  of  the  Potomac,  and  within  the  State  of  Maryland, 
to  the  river  Ohio,  at  the  most  convenient  place  between  a  point  on  the 
easterly  bank  of  said  river,  opposite  to  Steubenville,  and  the  mouth  of 

1  Letter  of  Feb.  13,  1802.  2  Act  of  March  3,  1803. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  183 

Grove  Creek,  which  empties  into  said  river  Ohio,  a  little  below 
'Wheeling  in  Virginia.  This  route  will  meet  and  accommodate  the 
roads  leading  from  Baltimore  and  the  District  of  Columbia;  it  will 
cross  the  Monongahela  river,  at  or  near  Brownsville,  sometimes  called 
Kedstone,  where  the  advantage  of  boating  can  be  taken;  and  from 
the  point  where  it  will  probably  intersect  the  river  Ohio,  there  are  now 
roads,  or  they  can  easily  be  made  over  feasible  and  proper  ground, 
to  and  through  the  principal  population  of  the  State  of  Ohio. 

"  ...  To  enlarge  upon  the  highly  important  consideration  of  cement- 
ing the  union  of  our  citizens  located  on  the  "Western  Waters  with 
those  of  the  Atlantic  States,  would  be  an  indelicacy  offered  to  the 
understanding  of  the  body  to  whom  this  report  is  addressed,  as  it 
might  seem  to  distrust  them.  But  from  the  interesting  nature  of 
the  subject  the  Committee  are  induced  to  ask  the  indulgence  of  a 
single  observation.  Politicians  have  generally  agreed  that  rivers 
unite  the  interests  and  promote  the  friendship  of  those  who  inhabit 
their  banks,  while  mountains,  on  the  contrary,  tend  to  the  disunion 
and  estrangement  of  those  who  are  separated  by  their  intervention. 
In  the  present  case,  to  make  the  crooked  ways  smooth,  will,  in  effect, 
remove  the  intervening  mountains,  and  by  facilitating  the  intercourse 
of  the  western  brethren  with  those  of  the  Atlantic,  substantially 
unite  them  in  interests,  which  the  Committee  believe,  is  the  most 
effectual  cement  of  union  applicable  to  the  human  race." 

THE  MARYLAND  ROUTE  SELECTED. 

In  accordance  with  these  recommendations,  a  law  was  finally  passed 
by  Congress  in  March,  1806,2  authorizing  the  President  to  appoint 
"  three  discreet  and  disinterested  persons  to  lay  out  a  road  from  Cum- 
berland or  a  point  on  the  northern  bank  of  the  river  Potomac,  in  the 
State  of  Maryland,  between  Cumberland  and  the  place  where  the 
main  road  leading  from  Gwynn's  to  Winchester,  in  Virginia,  crosses 
the  river,  to  the  State  of  Ohio."  They  were  to  examine  the  route, 
and  make  a  report  to  the  President.  Also,  by  this  act,  the  first  appro- 

1  Senate  Eeports.     9th  Cong-.,  1st  Sess.,  Eep.  No.  195. 

2  An  Act  to  .Regulate  the  Laying  out  and  Making-  a  Road  from  Cumber- 
land, in  the  State  of  Maryland,  to  the  State  of  Ohio.     Approved  Mar.  29,  1806. 


184  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IN    MARYLAND 

priation  of  $30,000  was  made  to  defray  the  expense  of  laying  out 
and  making  the  road.  The  President  was  authorized,  if  he  accepted 
the  report  of  the  Commissioners,  to  pursue  such  measures  as  he 
thought  proper  and  to  obtain  the  consent  of  the  necessary  states  for 
the  construction  of  the  road  through  their  territory. 

The  Commissioners  appointed  by  President  Jefferson — Eli  Wil- 
liams, Thomas  Moore,  and  Joseph  Kerr — presented  one  report  De- 
cember 30,  1806,  and  a  second  January  15,  1808.  The  latter  was 
transmitted  to  Congress  by  President  Jefferson  with  his  approval  on 
February  19,  1808.1 

CONSENT  OF  THE  STATES  AND  FEDERAL  APPROPRIATIONS. 

In  the  meanwhile  Maryland,2  Pennsylvania,  and  Virginia  had  by 
statute  granted  permission  to  the  Federal  Government  to  construct 
the  road  through  their  territory.  In  1810  accordingly,  there  was 
begun  a  series  of  appropriations  for  the  Cumberland  Road  which 
finally  aggregated  about  $7,000, 000. 3  The  contract  for  the  first  ten 
miles  was  given  in  1811  and  the  road  was  thrown  open  to  the  public  in 
1818. 4  From  that  time  "  until  the  coming  of  the  railroad  west  of 
the  Alleghany  Mountains,  in  1852,  the  National  Road  was  the  one 
great  highway  over  which  passed  the  bulk  of  trade  and  travel  and 
the  mails  between  the  East  and  West." 

The  details  of  the  construction  of  the  National  Road  and  its  very 
interesting  historical  associations  must  be  omitted  here,  with  the 
exception  of  a  brief  resume  of  the  important  events  of  its  subsequent 
history. 

In  1817,  John  C.  Calhoun  introduced  into  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives a  bill  to  set  aside  for  roads  and  canals  the  bonds  and  divi- 
dends received  by  the  United  States  from  its  newly-chartered  National 

1  Exec.  Commun.,  10th  Cong1.,  1st  Sess. 

-  See  Message  of  President  Jefferson,  Feb.  19th,  1808.  Maryland  expressed 
her  consent  by  1806,  chap.  Ixx,  "  An  Act  vesting  certain  powers  in  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States." 

3  The  appropriations  are  to  be  found  in  Searight.     The  Old  Pike,  pp.  100-6. 

4  Searig-ht.     The  Old  Pike,  p.  16.     See  below. 

'"'  Searight.  The  Old  Pike,  16.  A  work  containing  many  interesting  de- 
scriptions and  anecdotes  brought  together  in  a  colloquial  manner. 


MARYLAND    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY  185 

Bank.  Henry  Clay  supported  the  bill;  but  as  amended  and  passed, 
it  was  vetoed  by  President  Madison  upon  the  ground  that  it  was 
beyond  the  constitutional  powers  of  Congress.1  Five  years  later 
President  Monroe  vetoed  another  bill  which,  besfdes  making  a  regular 
appropriation  for  the  preservation  and  repair  of  the  road,  provided 
for  the  erection  of  turnpikes  and  the  collection  of  tolls  and  for  the 
protection  of  the  road  from  malicious  injuries.2 

NATIONAL  ROAD   UNDER   STATE   CONTROL. 

Eegular  appropriations,  however,  were  permitted  to  go  on  and  the 
road  was  continued  farther  west  from  time  to  time.  The  eastern 
part  fell  into  bad  repair;  and  in  1831  the  Legislature  of  Pennsylvania 
passed  an  act,  appointing  commissioners  to  build  toll-houses  and  erect 
gates  on  so  much  of  the  road  as  lay  within  the  State  of  Pennsylvania. 
The  act  was  to  be  effective  only  upon  the  condition  that  Congress 
should  have  the  road  put  in  good  repair  and  make  an  appropriation 
for  the  erection  of  toll-houses  by  the  Pennsylvania  Commissioners.8 

A  similar  act  had  been  passed  by  the  Legislature  of  Ohio  a  short 
time  before.  In  1832  4  Maryland  proposed  her  acceptance  of  the 
road  upon  the  same  terms  as  Pennsylvania;  and  Virginia  did  likewise. 
Congress  assented  to  this  proposition  the  same  year,"  and  commis- 
sioners were  appointed  by  the  states.  The  road,  as  repaired  by  the 
Federal  Government,  was  finally  accepted  by  the  states  at  slightly 
different  times.  Maryland  signified  her  acceptance  in  1834,6  and  the 
next  year  made  provision  for  its  preservation  under  state  control  by 
the  establishment  of  rates  of  toll  and  the  appointment  of  officials.7 
The  road  then  remained  the  subject  of  frequent  legislation  until  1878, 
when  it  was  put  under  the  control  of  Allegany  and  Garrett  counties.8 

Other  roads  were  constructed  by  the  Federal  Government  at  vari- 
ous times  and  in  different  parts  of  the  Union;  but  the  road  from  Cum- 
berland has  borne  the  lasting  title  of  "  The  National  Road."  Attempts 

1  Richardson  [Ed].     Messages  and  Papers  of  the  Presidents,  vol.  i,  p.  584. 
(Mar.  3,  1817.) 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  ii,  p.  142.     (May  4,  1822.) 

8  Laws  of  Pennsylvania,  1831,  approved  April  4.  *  Chap.  Iv. 

5  22nd  Cong*.,  Sess.  1,  chap,  cliii,  approved  July  3,  1832.  6  Chap,  cciii. 

7  Chap.  cccv.  *  Chap,  clviii. 


186  HIGHWAY    LEGISLATION    IX    MARYLAND 

were  made  to  provide  for  the  construction  of  other  national  roads 
passing  through  the  state  of  Maryland,  but  they  were  entirely  unsuc- 
cessful.1 The  National  Road,  however,  was  a  success,  and  for  many 
years  was,  indeed,  the  "  channel  of  conveyance  of  the  extensive  and 
valuable  trade  of  a  rising  empire/' 

The  National  Road  was  described  in  1879  as  follows: 
"It  was  excellently  macadamized;  the  rivers  and  creeks  were 
spanned  by  stone  bridges;  the  distances  were  indexed  by  iron  mile- 
posts,  and  the  toll-houses  supplied  with  strong  iron  gates.  Its  pro- 
jector 2  and  chief  supporter  was  Henry  Clay,  whose  services  in  its 
behalf  are  commemorated  by  a  monument  near  Wheeling.  There 
were  sometimes  twenty  gaily-painted  four-horse  coaches  each  way 
daily.  The  cattle  and  sheep  were  never  out  of  sight.  The  canvas- 
covered  wagons  were  drawn  by  six  or  twelve  horses.  Within  a  mile 
of  the  road  the  country  was  a  wilderness,  but  on  the  highway  the 
traffic  was  as  dense  as  in  the  main  street  of  a  large  town.  Ten  miles 
an  hour  is  said  to  have  been  the  usual  speed  for  coaches;  but  between 
Hagerstown  and  Frederick  they  were  claimed  to  have  made  twenty- 
six  miles  in  two  hours.  These  coaches  finally  ceased  running  in 
1853.  There  were  also  through  freight-wagons  from  Baltimore  to 
Wheeling,  which  carried  ten  tons.  They  were  drawn  by  twelve 
horses,  and  their  rear  wheels  were  ten  feet  high.3 

Though  its  glories  have  long  since  departed,  and  coach  and  wagon 
no  more  throng  its  way,  the  National  Road,  rich  in  its  associations  of 
historic  interest,  still  constitutes  one  of  the  most  enduring  monuments 
of  Maryland's  past,  while  the  idea  to  which  it  owes  its  existence — 
the  welding  of  the  West  and  the  East  in  commercial  and  national 
unity — has  found  other  and  more  lasting  expression. 

1  E.  g.,  1.     A  turnpike  road  along"  the  Atlantic  coast,  from.  Maine  to  Georgia. 
2.  A  national  road  from  Washington  to  Buffalo. 

2  An  error. 

3  Quoted  in  an  article  by  Eichard  Stone,  "  Historical  Sketch  of  National 
Road  Building,"  in  Journal  of  the  Massachusetts  Highway  Association,  vol. 
i,  No.  3. 


THE  PRINCIPAL  SOURCES  OF  INFORMATION 


I.  LAWS. 

(1)  Maryland,     (a)  Colonial. 

Bacon,  Laws  of  Maryland.     1765. 
Printed  Session  Laws. 

MS.  Laws  contained  in  Assembly  Proceed- 
ings. 

(b)  State. 

Printed  Session  Laws  and  Indices. 

(c)  Codes  of  1860  and  1888. 

(2)  Virginia.     Hening,  Statutes  at  Large. 

(3)  Pennsylvania.     Printed  Session  Laws. 

(4)  United  States  Statutes  at  Large. 

II.  ARCHIVES. 

(1)  Maryland.     Proceedings  of  the  Assembly,  Printed  and  MS. 

Correspondence  of  Governor  Sharpe.     Printed. 

MS.  Proceedings  of  the  County  Courts  of 
Charles,  Anne  Arundel,  Prince  George's, 
Baltimore,  Cecil  and  Frederick  Counties, 
Md.,  a  source  hitherto  unexplored,  save,  'to 
some  degree,  in  Cecil  and  Frederick  Counties. 

(2)  Pennsylvania  Archives  and  Council  Proceedings. 

(3)  Federal.     Journals  of  Congress. 

American  State  Papers. 

Messages  and  Papers  of  the  Presidents  (Richard- 
son, Ed.). 
Reports  of  Committees,  Senate  and  H.  of  R. 

III.  NEWSPAPERS. 

Maryland  Gazette. 

Maryland  Journal  and  Baltimore  Advertiser. 

Virginia  Gazette. 

Philadelphia  Aurora. 

Mies'  Weekly  Register. 


IY.  MAPS  in 

(1)  Library  of  the  Maryland  Historical  Society. 

(2)  U.  S.  Geological  Survey. 

(3)  Congressional  Library,  Map  Department. 

Y.  LOCAL  HISTORIES. 

Johnston,  History  of  Cecil  County,  Md. 

Lowdermilk,  History  of  Cumberland. 

Schulz,  First  Settlements  of  Germans  in  Maryland. 

Tyson,  A  Brief  Account  of  the  Settlement  of  Ellicott's  Mills. 

Gibson  (Ed.),  History  of  York  County,  Pa. 

Watson,  Annals  of  Philadelphia. 

VI.  TRAVELS  ANT>  ACCOUNTS. 

Blome,  K.,  A  Description  of  the  Island  of  Jamaica,  etc.,  1672. 
Burnaby,  Travels  through  the  Middle  Settlements  in  North 

America,  in  1759-60. 
Fox,  George,  Journal  of. 
Eddis,  Letters  from  America. 
Weld,  Travels  through  the  States  of  North  America  during 

the  Years  1795,  1796,  and  1797. 

Parkinson,  A  Tour  in  America  in  1798,  1799,  and  1800. 
Sutclin0,   Travels  in  Some   Parts  of  North  America   in  the 

Years  1804,  1805,  and  1806. 
Bayard,  Voyage  dans  Tlnterieur  des  Etats  IJnis. 

VII.  COLLECTIONS. 

Hazard,  Annals  of  Pennsylvania. 

Sparks,  Writings  of  Washington. 

Lodge,  Writings  of  Washington. 

Lodge,  Hamilton's  Works. 

Transactions  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  1770. 

Pennsylvania  Magazine  of  History  and  Biography. 

VIII.  GENERAL  HISTORIES. 

Schouler,  History  of  the  United  States. 

Hildreth,  History  of  the  United  States. 

McMaster,  History  of  the  People  of  the  United  States. 

Scharf,  History  of  Maryland. 

McMahon,  History  of  Maryland. 


IX.  MISCELLANEOUS. 

Hinsdale,  The  Old  Northwest. 

Searight,  The  Old  Pike, 

Neill,  Maryland  in  the  Beginning. 

Wilhelm,  Local  Institutions  in  Maryland. 

Adams,     H.     B.,     Maryland's    Influence     in     Founding    a 
National  Commonwealth. 

Bryan,  State  Banking  in  Maryland. 

Murray,  One  Hundred  Years  Ago. 

Morse,  The  American  Geography. 

Pitkin,  Statistics  of  the  United  States. 

Chevalier,  Histoire  et  Description  des  Yoies  de  Communica- 
tion aux  Etats  Unis. 

Coles,   A  Survey  of  the  Roads  of  the  United  States  of 
America. 

Mathews,  The  Maps  and  Map-makers  of  Maryland. 

Tyler,  The  Literary  History  of  the  American  Revolution. 

Blackstone's  Commentaries. 

The  North  American  Review. 

Journal  of  the  Massachusetts  Highway  Association. 


VITA 

St.  George  Leakin  Sioussat  was  born  in  Baltimore,  Md.,  on  March 
13,  1878.  He  matriculated  at  the  Johns  Hopkins  University  in  June, 
1893.  After  pursuing  the  studies  in  the  Classical  Group,  he  received 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  in  June,  1896.  In  October  of  the 
same  year  he  entered  upon  a  three  years'  course  of  Graduate  Study 
in  the  Johns  Hopkins  University,  taking  History  as  his  principal  sub- 
ject, Political  Science  and  Economics  as  his  first  and  second  subor- 
dinates, respectively. 

As  an  Undergraduate,  he  held  a  Hopkins  Scholarship  for  the  year 
1893-4,  and  an  Honorary  Hopkins  Scholarship  for  the  year  1895-6. 
As  a  Graduate  Student,  he  held  University  Scholarships  for  the  years 
1896-7,  1897-8,  1898-9. 


GENERAL  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA— BERKELEY 

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